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The Proliferation Consequences of Global Stocks of Separated Civil Plutonium

Dr. Frank Barnaby, June 2005

Future decisions about the global stocks of civil plutonium, separated from spent nuclear-power reactor fuel elements in chemical reprocessing plants, is of considerable importance for nuclear-weapon proliferation. This paper discusses the size and location of plutonium stocks, the potential use of plutonium produced in civil nuclear-power reactors to fabricate nuclear weapons and nuclear explosives, the methods of disposing of civil plutonium, and the importance of the future of civil plutonium stocks for the NPT.

Inadequate control of stocks of plutonium will frustrate efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, particularly to countries that do not now have them. It will also make it easier for terrorist groups to acquire some of the material and construct nuclear explosives of their own. Any method used for the disposal of plutonium should give a very high level of assurance that plutonium cannot be extracted illegally for use in nuclear weapons or nuclear explosives or for use outside current international non-proliferation safeguards.