Download or read book Safeguards and Security Requirements for Weapons Plutonium Disposition in Light Water Reactors written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper explores the issues surrounding the safeguarding of the plutonium disposition process in support of the United States nuclear weapons dismantlement program. It focuses on the disposition of the plutonium by burning mixed oxide fuel in light water reactors (LWR) and addresses physical protection, material control and accountability, personnel security and international safeguards. The S and S system needs to meet the requirements of the DOE Orders, NRC Regulations and international safeguards agreements. Experience has shown that incorporating S and S measures into early facility designs and integrating them into operations provides S and S that is more effective, more economical, and less intrusive. The plutonium disposition safeguards requirements with which the US has the least experience are the implementation of international safeguards on plutonium metal; the large scale commercialization of the mixed oxide fuel fabrication; and the transportation to and loading in the LWRs of fresh mixed oxide fuel. It is in these areas where the effort needs to be concentrated if the US is to develop safeguards and security systems that are effective and efficient.
Download or read book Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1995-08-06 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the next decade, many thousands of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons are slated to be retired as a result of nuclear arms reduction treaties and unilateral pledges. Hundreds of tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium will no longer be needed for weapons purposes and will pose urgent challenges to international security. This is the supporting volume to a study by the Committee on International Security and Arms Control which dealt with all phases of the management and disposition of these materials. This technical study concentrates on the option for the disposition of plutonium, looking in detail at the different types of reactors in which weapons plutonium could be burned and at the vitrification of plutonium, and comparing them using economic, security and environmental criteria.
Download or read book Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium written by National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). Panel on Reactor-Related Options for the Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Disposal of Weapon Plutonium written by E.R. Merz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1995-12-31 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Disposal of Weapons Plutonium is a follow-up event to two preceding workshops, each dealing with a special subject within the overall disarmament issue: "Disposition of Weapon Plutonium", sponsored by the NATO Science Committee. The first workshop of this series was held at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London on 24-25 January 1994, entitled "Managing the Plutonium Surplus, Applications, and Options". Its over all goal was to clarify the current situation with respect to pluto nium characteristics and availability, the technical options for use or disposal, and their main technical, environmental, and economic constraints. In the immediate term, plutonium recovered from dismantled nuclear warheads will have to be stored securely, and under international safeguards if possible. In the intermediate term, the principal alter natives for disposition of this plutonium are: irradiation in mixed oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies in existing commercial light-water reac tors or in specially adapted light-water reactors capable of operation with full cores of MOX fuel .and irradiation in future fast reactors. Another option is to blend plutonium with high-level waste as it is vitrified for final disposal in a geologic repository. In both cases, the high radioactivity of the resulting products provides "self shielding" and prevents separation of plutonium without already developed and available sophisticated technology. The so-called "spent fuel standard" as an effective protection barrier is - quired in either case.
Download or read book Safety Issues Associated with Plutonium Involvement in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle written by Theodore A. Parish and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1999-02-28 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "VOLGA" conferences, hosted in odd-numbered years by the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Reactor Physics of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), are some of the most prestigious technical meetings held in Russia. Traditionally, these conferences present the opportunity for reactor physicists from around the world to gather at MEPhI's holiday camp on the banks of the Volga river (near Tver) to exchange ideas and explore innovative concepts related to nuclear power development. In 1997, NATO became involved in the "VOLGA" meetings for the first time by co-sponsoring "VOLGA97" as an advanced research workshop. This workshop broke with tradition a bit in that the venue was moved from MEPhI's holiday camp to a location nearer Moscow. The workshop program was effectively organized in order to cover a broad range of topics relating to the theme of the meeting. Generally, the papers concerned safety related questions associated with utilizing both weapons-grade and reactor-grade plutonium in the nuclear fuel cycle, including facility requirements, licensing issues, proliferation risks, and a variety of advanced concepts for alternative fuel cycles. The program contained a total of ninety-nine papers presented in five days of sessions.
Download or read book Improving the Scientific Basis for Managing DOE s Excess Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-06-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The production of nuclear materials for the national defense was an intense, nationwide effort that began with the Manhattan Project and continued throughout the Cold War. Now many of these product materials, by-products, and precursors, such as irradiated nuclear fuels and targets, have been declared as excess by the Department of Energy (DOE). Most of this excess inventory has been, or will be, turned over to DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM), which is responsible for cleaning up the former production sites. Recognizing the scientific and technical challenges facing EM, Congress in 1995 established the EM Science Program (EMSP) to develop and fund directed, long-term research that could substantially enhance the knowledge base available for new cleanup technologies and decision making. The EMSP has previously asked the National Academies' National Research Council for advice for developing research agendas in subsurface contamination, facility deactivation and decommissioning, high-level waste, and mixed and transuranic waste. For this study the committee was tasked to provide recommendations for a research agenda to improve the scientific basis for DOE's management of its high-cost, high-volume, or high-risk excess nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuels. To address its task, the committee focused its attention on DOE's excess plutonium-239, spent nuclear fuels, cesium-137 and strontium-90 capsules, depleted uranium, and higher actinide isotopes.
Download or read book U S Plutonium Use Policy written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Subcommittee on Arms Control, International Security, and Science and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Fuel Qualification Issues and Strategies for Reactor based Surplus Plutonium Disposition written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed irradiation of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in existing commercial reactors as a disposition method for surplus plutonium from the weapons program. The burning of MOX fuel in reactors is supported by an extensive technology base; however, the infrastructure required to implement reactor-based plutonium disposition does not exist domestically. This report identifies and examines the actions required to qualify and license weapons-grade (WG) plutonium-based MOX fuels for use in domestic commercial light-water reactors (LWRs).
Download or read book Weapons grade Plutonium Dispositioning Volume 4 Plutonium Dispositioning in Light Water Reactors written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is in response to a request by the Reactor Panel Subcommittee of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) to evaluate the feasibility of using plutonium fuels (without uranium) for disposal in existing conventional or advanced light water reactor (LWR) designs and in low temperature/pressure LWR designs that might be developed for plutonium disposal. Three plutonium-based fuel forms (oxides, aluminum metallics, and carbides) are evaluated for neutronic performance, fabrication technology, and material and compatibility issues. For the carbides, only the fabrication technologies are addressed. Viable plutonium oxide fuels for conventional or advanced LWRs include plutonium-zirconium-calcium oxide (PuO2-ZrO2-CaO) with the addition of thorium oxide (ThO2) or a burnable poison such as erbium oxide (Er2O3) or europium oxide (Eu2O3) to achieve acceptable neutronic performance. Thorium will breed fissile uranium that may be unacceptable from a proliferation standpoint. Fabrication of uranium and mixed uranium-plutonium oxide fuels is well established; however, fabrication of plutonium-based oxide fuels will require further development. Viable aluminum-plutonium metallic fuels for a low temperature/pressure LWR include plutonium aluminide in an aluminum matrix (PuAl4-Al) with the addition of a burnable poison such as erbium (Er) or europium (Eu). Fabrication of low-enriched plutonium in aluminum-plutonium metallic fuel rods was initially established 30 years ago and will require development to recapture and adapt the technology to meet current environmental and safety regulations. Fabrication of high-enriched uranium plate fuel by the picture-frame process is a well established process, but the use of plutonium would require the process to be upgraded in the United States to conform with current regulations and minimize the waste streams.
Download or read book Reactor Options for Disposition of Excess Weapon Plutonium written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DOE is currently considering a wide range of alternatives for disposition of excess weapon plutonium, including using plutonium in mixed oxide fuel for light water reactors (LWRs). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been tasked to assist DOE in its efforts to develop a decision process and criteria for evaluating the technologies and reactor designs that have been proposed for the fission disposition alternative. This report outlines an approach for establishing such a decision process and selection criteria. The approach includes the capability to address multiple, sometimes conflicting, objectives, and to incorporate the impact of uncertainty. The approach has a firm theoretical foundation and similar approaches have been used successfully by private industry, DOE, and other government agencies to support and document complex, high impact technology choice decisions. Because of their similarity and relatively simple technology, this report focuses on three light water reactors studied in Phase 1 of the DOE Plutonium Disposition Study. The decision process can be extended to allow evaluation of other reactor technologies and disposition options such as direct disposal and retrievable storage.
Download or read book A Perspective on Safeguarding and Monitoring of Excess Military Plutonium written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective and framework for the development of safeguarding and monitoring procedures for the various stages of disposition of excess military plutonium. The paper briefly outlines and comments on some of the issues involved in safeguarding and monitoring excess military plutonium as it progresses from weapons through dismantlement, to fabrication as reactor fuel, to use in a reactor, and finally to storage and disposal as spent fuel. {open_quotes}Military{close_quotes} refers to ownership, and includes both reactor-grade and weapon-grade plutonium. {open_quotes}Excess{close_quotes} refers to plutonium (in any form) that a government decides is no longer needed for military use and can be irrevocably removed from military stockpiles. Many of the issues and proposals presented in this paper are based on, or are similar to, those mentioned in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on excess military plutonium. Safeguards for plutonium disposition are discussed elsewhere in terms of requirements established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Here, the discussion is less specific. The term {open_quotes}safeguarding{close_quotes} is used broadly to refer to materials control and accountancy (MC & A), containment and surveillance (C & S), and physical protection of nuclear materials by the state that possesses those materials. This is also referred to as material protection, control, and accountancy (MPCA). The term {open_quotes}safeguarding{close_quotes} was chosen for brevity and to distinguish MPCA considered in this paper from international or IAEA safeguards. {open_quotes}Monitoring{close_quotes} is used to refer to activities designed to assure another party (state or international organization) that the nuclear materials of the host state (the United States or Russia) are secure and not subject to unauthorized use.
Download or read book DOE Plutonium Disposition Study written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Core reactivity and basic fuel management calculations were conducted on the selected reactors (with emphasis on the System 80 units as being the most desirable choice). Methods used were identical to those reported in the Evolutionary Reactor Report. From these calculations, the basic mission capability was assessed. The selected reactors were studied for modification, such as the addition of control rod nozzles to increase rod worth, and internals and control system modifications that might also be needed. Other system modifications studied included the use of enriched boric acid as soluble poison, and examination of the fuel pool capacities. The basic geometry and mechanical characteristics, materials and fabrication techniques of the fuel assemblies for the selected existing reactors are the same as for System 80+. There will be some differences in plutonium loading, according to the ability of the reactors to load MOX fuel. These differences are not expected to affect licensability or EPA requirements. Therefore, the fuel technology and fuel qualification sections provided in the Evolutionary Reactor Report apply to the existing reactors. An additional factor, in that the existing reactor availability presupposes the use of that reactor for the irradiation of Lead Test Assemblies, is discussed. The reactor operating and facility licenses for the operating plants were reviewed. Licensing strategies for each selected reactor were identified. The spent fuel pool for the selected reactors (Palo Verde) was reviewed for capacity and upgrade requirements. Reactor waste streams were identified and assessed in comparison to uranium fuel operations. Cost assessments and schedules for converting to plutonium disposition were estimated for some of the major modification items. Economic factors (incremental costs associated with using weapons plutonium) were listed and where possible under the scope of work, estimates were made.
Download or read book Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996 written by David Albright and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) are the basic materials used in nuclear weapons. Plutonium also plays an important part in the generation of nuclear electricity. Knowing how much plutonium and HEU exists, where and in which form is vital for international security and nuclear commerce. This book is a thorough revision of the World Inventory of Plutonium and highly Enriched Uranium, 1992. It provides a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of the amounts of plutonium and HEU in military and civilian programmes, in nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states, and in countries seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. The capibilities that exist for producing these materials around the world are examined in depth, as are the policy issues raised by them. Containing much new information, this book is indispensable to all those concerned with the great contemporary issues in international nuclear relations: arms reductions in the nuclear weapon states, nuclear proliferation, nuclear smuggling, the roles of plutonium and enriched uranium in the nuclear fuel-cycle, and the disposition of surplus weapon material.
Download or read book Weapons grade Plutonium Dispositioning Volume 2 written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Secretary of Energy requested the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on International Security and Arms Control to evaluate disposition options for weapons-grade plutonium. The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) offered to assist the NAS in this evaluation by investigating the technical aspects of the disposition options and their capability for achieving plutonium annihilation levels greater than 90%. This report was prepared for the NAS to document the gathered information and results from the requested option evaluations. Evaluations were performed for 12 plutonium disposition options involving five reactor and one accelerator-based systems. Each option was evaluated in four technical areas: (1) fuel status, (2) reactor or accelerator-based system status, (3) waste-processing status, and (4) waste disposal status. Based on these evaluations, each concept was rated on its operational capability and time to deployment. A third rating category of option costs could not be performed because of the unavailability of adequate information from the concept sponsors. The four options achieving the highest rating, in alphabetical order, are the Advanced Light Water Reactor with plutonium-based ternary fuel, the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor with plutonium-based fuel, the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor with uranium-plutonium-based fuel, and the Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor with plutonium-based fuel. Of these four options, the Advanced Light Water Reactor and the Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor do not propose reprocessing of their irradiated fuel. Time constraints and lack of detailed information did not allow for any further ratings among these four options. The INEL recommends these four options be investigated further to determine the optimum reactor design for plutonium disposition.
Download or read book Review of the Department of Energy s Plans for Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-06-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued an Interim Report evaluating the general viability of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's (DOE-NNSA's) conceptual plans for disposing of 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It provided a preliminary assessment of the general viability of DOE-NNSA's conceptual plans, focused on some of the barriers to their implementation. This final report addresses the remaining issues and echoes the recommendations from the interim study.
Download or read book Study of Plutonium Disposition Using Existing GE Advanced Boiling Water Reactors written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The end of the cold war and the resulting dismantlement of nuclear weapons has resulted in the need for the US to dispose of 50 to 100 metric tons of excess of plutonium in a safe and proliferation resistant manner. A number of studies, including the recently released National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study, have recommended conversion of plutonium into spent nuclear fuel with its high radiation barrier as the best means of providing permanent conversion and long-term diversion resistance to this material. The NAS study ''Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium identified Light Water Reactor spent fuel as the most readily achievable and proven form for the disposition of excess weapons plutonium. The study also stressed the need for a US disposition program which would enhance the prospects for a timely reciprocal program agreement with Russia. This summary provides the key findings of a GE study where plutonium is converted into Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel and a typical 1155 MWe GE Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) is utilized to convert the plutonium to spent fuel. A companion study of the Advanced BWR has recently been submitted. The MOX core design work that was conducted for the ABWR enabled GE to apply comparable fuel design concepts and consequently achieve full MOX core loading which optimize plutonium throughput for existing BWRs.
Download or read book Final Generic Environmental Statement on the Use of Recycle Plutonium in Mixed Oxide Fuel in Light Water Cooled Reactors written by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
