published by WISE News Communique on April 11, 1997




Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 Summary

2. History of plutonium policy and production


2.1 Introduction

A microscopic sample of plutonium was first isolated by Glenn Seaborg in August 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project. The first-milligram quantities were not created in a reactor, but by the irradiation of uranyl nitrate solution by the cyclotron at the University of California at Berkeley, US.1 In December 1944 the construction of the chemical separation plants at Hanford were finished, and on February 2, 1945, Los Alamos received its first plutonium.2 Plutonium is a highly carcinogenic, radioactive substance which does not exist in the natural environment and is only produced artificially in nuclear reactors. It is made by the irradiation with neutrons of uranium-238 in military as well as civilian nuclear reactors. Plutonium has 15 isotopes with mass numbers ranging from 232 to 246. Only two plutonium isotopes have military and commercial applications: The plutonium isotopes 240, 241 and 242 have no commercial application and are merely contaminants.3

The formed plutonium is contained inside the spent fuel rods. The longer the fuel is inside the reactor, the more contaminant plutonium isotopes are formed. In military reactors the fuel is replaced after some weeks in order to obtain as much plutonium-239 as possible. In commercial reactors this is done after three to four years.


2.2 Plutonium grades: All plutonium is weapon-grade

The minimal amount of nuclear material necessary to sustain a chain reaction is called the critical mass. The smallest theoretical critical mass of Pu-239 is a few hundred grams.4 The amount of plutonium used in fission weapons is in the 3-5 kg range. Plutonium has been classified into grades by the US Department of Energy (DOE)5

Table 2.2 Plutonium grades

Grades of plutonium Content of Pu-240
Supergrade 2-3% (>97% fissile Pu)
Weapon grade < 7%
Fuel grade 7-19%
Reactor grade 19% or more

This classification is, however, somewhat misleading. Fuel grade and reactor grade may be less suitable but still can be made into a nuclear weapon. There have been at least two known nuclear weapon tests with civil plutonium. In 1953, Britain exploded a 12-kiloton bomb, named Totem I, at one of their test sites in Australia.6 In 1962, the US conducted an underground test with reactor grade plutonium at the Nevada test site.7


2.3 Plutonium production

During reprocessing, plutonium is separated from spent nuclear fuel. Reprocessing has pure military origins. Development of this technology dates back to the US of 1944, to the Manhattan Project whose only goal was the developing and production of the nuclear bomb. The plutonium was produced in dedicated military reactors with low-burn-up fuel. Fuel in power reactors is irradiated for longer periods to reach a higher burn-up, because the fuel irradiation generates the heat for the electricity production. The military purpose is the production of plutonium and therefore the burn-up is kept low to produce a plutonium-239 as pure as possible. It is important to keep the presence of higher isotopes, particularly plutonium-240, to a minimum.8 Reprocessing plants handle spent fuel mechanically and chemically in order to separate plutonium from mainly uranium and other fission products. Reprocessing is an extremely polluting technique mainly due to massive radioactive releases in air and water.

2.3.1 Civil Pu production

Civil reprocessing was applied on an experimental scale from 1966-1974 by the Eurochemic reprocessing plant in Dessel, Belgium, and from 1972-1990 by the WAK in Karlsruhe, Germany. From the late 1960s on, large scale reprocessing of spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants started: in France the Marcoule plant UP1 (1958-1997) and La Hague UP2 (1966-1976); in the UK Windscale B-204 from 1969-1973; and in the US, West Valley (1966-1972).9 The two largest reprocessors and plutonium companies in the world are British Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (BNFL) and the French Compagnie Générale des Matières Nucléaires (Cogéma). Based on the nominal production capacity of 1600 MT/year for La Hague10 and 900 MT/y for Sellafield 11 the maximum Pu production in the next 20 years will be about 500,000 kg Pu on the assumption of an average of 1% Pu in the spent fuel.

Table 2.3 Estimated civil world plutonium production12

Country Plant Prod. Cap. spent fuel (ton/yr) Max. Pu. prod. (kg/yr) Start-up
India Tarapur 100 1.000 1982
Kalpakkam 100 1.000 1996
Japan Tokai-Mura 90 900 1977
France UP-2 800 850 8.500 1994
UP-3 800 8.000 1990
Russia RT-1, Mayak13 400 2.500 1977
UK THORP 700 7.000 1997
B-205 MAGNOX 1.500 4.500 1964
Maximum total annual Pu production 33.400

At present, about half of the annual plutonium production in civil nuclear fuel is separated in reprocessing plants. Each year about 60,000 kg of plutonium is produced in nuclear reactors, from which about half (some 33,400 kg) of plutonium is separated.

The estimated cumulative civil plutonium production in civil nuclear reactors until the end of 1995 is about a million kg of plutonium, from which about 800,000 kg is inside the spent fuel. About 190,000 kg of plutonium has been reprocessed. Of this plutonium 141,000 kg is stockpiled and 49,000 kg is recycled as MOX fuel in LWRs and FBRs.14

The amount of civil separated plutonium will increase enormously. The next 20 years the cumulative production of civil reprocessing plants will be about 600,000 kg of plutonium. This is twice the total military plutonium production from World War II till now.

2.3.2 Military Pu production

The five official nuclear weapon countries -- the US, Russia, Great Britain, China and France -- have produced an estimated 300,000-kg plutonium in the past 50 years. In the US all 14 military reactors were closed by 1988. By then the reactors had produced about 100,000 kg weapon-grade plutonium and 11,000-kg fuel- and reactor-grade plutonium.15 In the USSR an estimated 177,000 kg of military plutonium were produced by 13 military reactors and separated by the end of 1993. Only three military reactors are still in operation.16 Since about 1985, some 10 thousands of nuclear weapons have been dismantled. As a result, the stocks of weapon-grade plutonium are increasing. Both the US and Russia declared about 50,000-kg plutonium each as surplus stocks. The UK, France and China together produced and separated about 12,000-kg weapon-grade plutonium.17

Sources:

  1. IPPNW/IEER, 'Plutonium Deadly gold of the Nuclear Age', Cambridge, 1992, p.3
  2. US Department of Energy, 'The Manhattan Project; Making The Atomic Bomb', Oak Ridge, September 1994, p.64
  3. IEER fact sheet, 'Physical, Nuclear and Chemical Properties of Plutonium', Washington, October 1994, p.1
  4. IEER fact sheet, 'Physical, Nuclear and Chemical Properties of Plutonium', Washington, October 1994, p.2
  5. Cochran, T.B., W.M.Arkin, R.S.Norris, M.M.Hoenig; 'Nuclear Weapons Databook, Vol. II U.S. Nuclear Warhead Facility Profiles', Cambridge, Ballinger Publishing Company, 1987, p.136
  6. Hawkes, N., a.o, 'The Worst Accident in the World', London Observer, 1986, p.58,59
  7. DOE Facts, 'Additional Information Concerning Underground Nuclear Weapon Test of Reactor-grade Plutonium', Washington, June 1994
  8. IEER fact sheet, 'Physical, Nuclear and Chemical Properties of Plutonium', Washington, October 1994, p.3
  9. Albright, D., F.Berkhout, W.Walker, 'World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1992', Oxford University Press, 1993, p.90
  10. Nuclear Fuel, 1 January 1996; La Hague site reaches nominal production; MELOX gears up, p.12
  11. Nuclear Fuel, 17 June 1996: 'Hundreds of Japanese flock to THORP as plant gears up for full operation', p.19-20
  12. Energy & Security, No.2 1997; 'Reprocessing: Where and How', p.8-9
  13. Nuclear Fuel, 1 January 1996, 'RT-1 operation faces cost crisis, uncertain future demand schedule', p.10
  14. Energy and Security, No.2 1997; 'World Civilian plutonium inventories', p.14
  15. Albright, D., F.Berkhout, W.Walker; 'World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1992', Oxford University Press, 1993, p.34
  16. Böhmer, N., T.Nilsen; 'Reprocessing Plants in Siberia', Bellona Working Paper, 19 September 1995, Oslo, p.2
  17. Albright, D., F.Berkhout, W.Walker; 'World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1992', Oxford University Press, 1993, p.41-46
Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 Summary


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