Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium -- Copyright -- Preface -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- THE SPENT FUEL STANDARD -- Promising and Unpromising Options for Meeting the Spent Fuel Standard -- The Leading-Candidate Options: Specific Cases and Their Timing -- OTHER ASPECTS OF SECURITY -- ECONOMIC COMPARISONS -- ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH (ES&H) -- RECOMMENDATIONS -- Parallel Project-Oriented Programs -- Working with Russia -- The Longer Term -- REFERENCES -- 1 Introduction -- ROAD MAP OF THE REPORT -- UNCERTAINTIES -- GOALS, TIMING, AND RELATED FACTORS -- The Importance of Timing -- Cost and Other Objectives -- U.S. AND RUSSIAN PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION: DIFFERENCES AND LINKAGES -- REFERENCES -- 2 Background -- PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY OF NUCLEAR FISSION -- Fission and Chain Reactions -- Reactor Cooling and Electricity Generation -- Energetics and Fuel Consumption -- Fuel Preparation, Refueling, and Reprocessing -- Preparation -- Refueling -- Reprocessing -- Some Differences Between Plutonium- and Uranium-Based Reactor Fuels -- Some Relevant Aspects of Weapon Science -- CLASSES OF DISPOSITION OPTIONS -- PRESENT AND FUTURE FISSILE MATERIAL STOCKPILES -- Excess Weapons Plutonium Stockpiles -- Total World Plutonium and HEU Stockpiles -- Military Plutonium Stockpiles -- Civilian Plutonium Stockpiles -- Projected Plutonium Stocks in the Year 2000 -- HEU Stockpiles -- WORLD NUCLEAR-ENERGY SYSTEMS RELEVANT TO PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION -- Nuclear-Power Plant Types and Numbers -- Civilian Plutonium Separation and Use -- REFERENCES -- 3 Criteria for Comparing Disposition Options -- CRITERIA RELATED TO SECURITY AND TIMING -- The Context for Security Concerns and Criteria -- Specific Security Concerns and Threat Characteristics -- A Matrix Scheme for Characterizing Options -- Start Dates -- End Dates -- Integrated Inventory -- Dilution.

Intrinsic Barriers -- Implementation-Dependent Barriers -- The Threat and Vulnerability Interaction -- Criteria for Choice -- ISSUES AND CRITERIA IN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES -- Principles and Pitfalls in Cost Comparisons -- Inflation and the Real Cost of Money -- Property Taxes and Insurance -- Costs of Land, Materials, Labor, and Purchased Components -- Indirect Construction Costs -- Contingency -- Interest on Preoperational Investments -- Comprehensiveness -- Net Versus Gross Costs and Revenues and the Treatment of Sunk Costs -- Operational Lifetime of Facilities -- ISSUES AND CRITERIA RELATING TO ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH -- Proposed ES&H Criteria for Disposition of Weapons Plutonium -- Rationale for the Proposed Criteria -- The Main ES&H Issues in Weapons Plutonium Disposition -- OTHER CONSIDERATIONS -- Public Acceptability -- Institutional Acceptability -- Other Policies and Objectives -- APPENDIX A: INTEGRATED INVENTORY -- Storage -- Processing Steps -- Transport Steps -- Ultimate Disposition -- APPENDIX B: LEVELIZED ANNUAL COSTS AND NET DISCOUNTED PRESENT VALUE -- APPENDIX C: AVOIDED COST AND ASSOCIATED PITFALLS -- APPENDIX D: PREDICTED DAMAGES FROM THE DOSES PERMITTED BY STANDARDS -- REFERENCES -- 4 Reactor Options -- U.S. PLUTONIUM IN CURRENT-GENERATION U.S. LIGHT-WATER REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status -- Technical Issues in LWR MOX Fueling -- Reactor Throughput, Once-Through Fuel Cycle -- Fuel Fabrication -- Reactor and Institutional Options -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- The "Spiking" Option -- The "Elimination" Option -- Elimination by Fission -- "Effective Elimination" -- RUSSIAN PLUTONIUM IN CURRENT-GENERATION RUSSIAN THERMAL REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status.

Reactor Throughput, Once-Through Fuel Cycle -- Fuel Fabrication -- Reactor and Institutional Options -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- The Spiking Option -- The Elimination Option -- CURRENT-GENERATION CANDU REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status -- Advantages -- Disadvantages -- Reactor Throughput, Once-Through Fuel Cycle -- Fuel Fabrication -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- The Spiking Option -- The Elimination Option -- POTENTIAL INVOLVEMENT OF WEST EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE FACILITIES -- Description of Technology and Status -- Reactor Throughput, Once-Through Cycle -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards and Security -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- The Spiking Option -- The Elimination Option -- CURRENT-GENERATION LIQUID-METAL REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status -- Reactor Capacity and Throughput: U.S. LMRs -- Reactor Capacity and Throughput: Foreign LMRs -- CURRENT NAVAL AND RESEARCH REACTORS -- ADVANCED LIGHT-WATER REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status -- Reactor Throughput, Once-Through Fuel Cycle -- Fuel Fabrication -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- The Spiking Option -- The Elimination Option -- ADVANCED LIQUID-METAL REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status -- Reactor Throughput, Once-Through Fuel Cycle -- Fuel Fabrication -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- The Spiking Option -- The Elimination Option -- MODULAR HIGH-TEMPERATURE GAS-COOLED REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status.

Reactor Throughput -- Fuel Fabrication -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Cost -- Environment, Safety, and Health -- Other Issues -- MOLTEN-SALT REACTOR -- Description of Technology and Status -- Timing and Other Issues -- PARTICLE-BED REACTORS -- Description of Technology and Status -- Timing and Other Issues -- A DEDICATED PLUTONIUM-BURNER REACTOR -- ACCELERATOR-BASED CONVERSION OF PLUTONIUM -- Description of Technology and Status -- A Baseline System -- Accelerator -- Reactors -- Reprocessing and Enrichment -- Balance of Plant -- Challenges -- The Accelerator -- The Reactors -- The Reprocessing -- System Optimization -- Other Issues -- Some Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 5 Disposal of Plutonium Without Irradiation -- INTRODUCTION -- OVERVIEW OF THE TECHNOLOGY -- THE CHOICE OF WASTE FORM -- Phosphate Glass -- Synroc -- Cements -- Pyroprocessed Metals -- Plutonium-Beryllium Combinations -- TECHNICAL ISSUES FACING VITRIFICATION -- Options for a Proliferation-Resistant WPu Glass -- Size -- Plutonium Concentration -- Radioactive Spiking -- Chemical (Nonradioactive) Spiking -- Summary of Proliferation Resistance Issues -- Difficulties of Producing Glass with WPu and Fission Products -- Plutonium-Loading Capacity of the Glass -- Handling Plutonium in Upstream Processing and in the Melter -- Repository Issues -- Applicability to Other Forms of Plutonium -- ASSESSMENT BY KEY CRITERIA -- Facility Options and Schedule -- Savannah River Facility -- West Valley Facility -- Hanford Waste Vitrification Project -- Foreign Vitrification Facilities -- Specially Constructed WPu Vitrification Facilities -- Vitrification Without Fission Products -- Approvals and Licenses -- Safeguards, Security, and Recoverability -- Indirect Impact on Civilian Fuel-Cycle Risks -- Cost -- ES&H -- REFERENCES -- 6 Comparing the Options.

SECURITY COMPARISONS -- General Considerations -- Timing -- Other Indices, Barriers, and Threat-Barrier Interactions -- ECONOMIC COMPARISONS -- Weapons Plutonium Versus Uranium as Power Reactor Fuel -- LEU: Composition of the Total Costs -- LEU: Uranium Acquisition -- LEU: Conversion -- LEU: Enrichment -- LEU: Fabrication -- LEU: Spent Fuel Storage and Waste Disposal -- LEU: Reactor Panel Best Estimate of Total Fuel Costs Less Disposal -- MOX: Composition of the Total Costs -- MOX: Uranium Acquisition and Conversion -- MOX: Conversion of Plutonium Metal to PuO -- MOX: Fuel Fabrication -- MOX Incremental Costs of Plutonium Storage and Transport -- MOX: Cost of Ultimate Disposal -- MOX: Estimated Total Fuel Costs, Less Disposal -- Net Fuel-Cycle Costs of Using WPu in PWRs -- Variations in Fissile Content and Burnup -- Costs of Reactor Modifications and Licensing -- Net Economic Costs of Using WPu in Currently Operating PWRs -- Variations in Reactor Type -- Completing Existing LWRs -- Building New Reactors for Plutonium Disposition -- Constant Dollars -- Contingency -- Preoperational Costs -- Interest During Construction -- Fixed Charge Rates -- Dismantling and Disposal Costs -- Fuel Costs -- Total and Net Costs -- Economics of Vitrification -- Economics of Russian Disposition Options -- ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH -- Relevant Characteristics of Plutonium -- Hazards in Interim Storage of Plutonium -- Hazards in Plutonium Transport -- Hazards in Plutonium Processing -- Metal-to-Oxide Conversion -- Further Plutonium Processing for Spent Fuel Options -- Further Plutonium Processing for the Vitrification Option -- Elimination Options -- Reactor Safety Issues -- Effects on Accident Probabilities -- Effects on Accident Consequences -- Radioactive Waste Issues -- Spent Fuel and High-Level Wastes: Dose Potentials.

Spent Fuel and High-Level Wastes: Criticality Issues.