U. S. spent-fuel disposal strategies and International safeguards
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
Domestic safeguards for fissile nuclear materials are universal, and a variety of international safeguards regimes are applicable, in most member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to declared nuclear facilities dedicated to peaceful missions. The U.S. strategy to dispose of all spent nuclear fuels (SNFs) and high-level wastes (HLWs) in engineered geologic repositories has a sometimes-overlooked consequence, namely, the need to maintain domestic and international safeguards in perpetuity. The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which has the responsibility to accept and store the spent fuels in the long term either in surface facilities or in engineered geologic repositories, has yet to include safeguards issues in their mission plan.'' There are several stages in the nuclear fuel cycle where materials usable in weapons are available for diversion. This discussion, however, is limited to the potential diversion of spent fuels for clandestine plutonium recovery. The concepts proposed here highlight safeguards elements necessary for a pragmatic safeguards system for SNF from nuclear power generation. The efforts required to initiate and maintain a verifiable international safeguards regime are examined in the context of a typical storage facility in the United States.
- OSTI ID:
- 6157154
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Science and Engineering; (United States), Journal Name: Nuclear Science and Engineering; (United States) Vol. 114:4; ISSN NSENAO; ISSN 0029-5639
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
055000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Safeguards
Inspection
& Accountability
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ACTINIDES
DETECTION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FISSILE MATERIALS
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
FUEL CYCLE
FUELS
INDUSTRY
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLUTONIUM
POWER PLANTS
PROLIFERATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REACTOR MATERIALS
SAFEGUARDS
SECURITY
SPENT FUELS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WEAPONS