International safeguards concerns of Spent Fuel Disposal Program
The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussions on the subjects of safeguarding large quantities of plutonium contained in spent fuels to be disposed of in geologic respositories. All the spent fuel disposal scenarios examined here pose a variety of safeguards problems, none of which are adequately addressed by the international safeguards community. The spent fuels from once-through fuel cycles in underground repositories would become an increasingly attractive target for diversion because of their plutonium content and decreasing radioactivity. Current design of the first geologic repository in the US will have the capacity to accommodate wastes equivalent to 70,000 Mt of uranium from commercial and defense fuel cycles. Of this, approximately 62,000 Mt uranium equivalent will be commerical spent fuel, containing over 500 Mt of plutonium. International safeguards commitments may require us to address the safeguards issues of disposing of such large quanities of plutonium in a geologic repository, which has the potential to become a plutonium mine in the future. This paper highlights several issues that should be addressed in the near term by US industries and the DOE before geologic repositories for spent fuels become a reality.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 7229339
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-88-1570; CONF-880631-4; ON: DE88010925
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
International safeguards relevant to geologic disposal of high-level wastes and spent fuels
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Related Subjects
055002 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Safeguards
Inspection
& Accountability-- Nontechnical Aspects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ACTINIDES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FUELS
IAEA SAFEGUARDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
REACTOR MATERIALS
SAFEGUARDS
SPENT FUELS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT