Nevada national security site then known as the nevada proving grounds using nonweapons grade plutonium produced in a magnox reactor. The phwr produced weapons grade plutonium due to the lowburnup seen by the fuel in the computational model. Isotope vector for weapon grade and reactor grade plutonium. The concept can also breed plutonium fuel through neutron capture in u 238. The main difference between weapons grade plutonium and reactor grade plutonium is the percentage of the different isotopes of plutonium. The plutonium files by eileen welsome garnered her a pulitzer prize for its writing. Reactor grade plutonium data as in nea nuclear science committee, physics of plutonium recycling, plutonium recycling in pressurizedwater reactors, a report, vol.
Today, the uk government refuses to quantify plutonium production from civil reactors for these early years. The isotope 238 pu was produced in 1940 by seaborg, mcmillan, kennedy, and wahl by deuteron bombardment of uranium in the 60inch cyclotron at berkeley, california. The classification convention distinguishes plutonium compositions on the basis of pu240 content because of this isotopes high spontaneousfission. Although this came about more by circumstance than design, it has allowed for a more consistent approach to chemical interpretation than might have occurred in two separate treatments. Jones draws from his decades of research using publicly available, unclassified information to debunk the persistent fallacy that reactor grade plutonium cannot be used to build reliable nuclear weapons. It is also essential that the future arms control treaties like the fmct subject all plu tonium regardless of its isotopic composition to treaty provisions. This was one of the most difficult books ive ever read on science history, but bernstein does a brilliant job of communicating the science involved to the lay reader. Astm c697 16 standard test methods for chemical, mass. In other words, increasing russias weapons plutonium disposition rate to 4mt a year would require utilising additional reactor capacity. The blankets of thermal reactors are known to accumulate plutonium with an isotope composition close to that of weapon grade plutonium. Now lets turn to how plutonium is extracted from the fuel irradiated in a reactor. What would be the effect of reactor grade plutonium on the critical mass. Weapons made with reactor grade plutonium would require special cooling to keep them in storage and ready for use. Price of weapons grade plutonium hits an alltime high.
Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone. Fuel grade plutonium contains from 7 percent to less than 19 percent pu240, and power reactor grade contains from 19 percent and greater pu240. Can the usrussia plutonium disposition agreement be saved. Plutonium grades and nuclear weapons nuclearfree campaign. Thus weapons grade plutonium is found in irradiated uranium in low concentrations. Table 2 highlights the dramatic differences in molecular weight between a low viscosity reactor grade such as k2340a and some traditional polymeric plasticizers. In fissile material, a free neutron may do any of several things. However, the value of the plutonium would undoubtedly be far. Plutonium reactor article about plutonium reactor by the. Setting the record straight about plutonium production in. Why is weapon grade plutonium better than reactor grade plutonium in weapons. All reactor produced plutonium is weaponsusable, but nuclear weapons designers prefer to use plutonium with a very high percentage of plutonium 239 and a low percentage of plutonium 240. The third factor is the isotopic composition of the residual plutonium in the final waste form.
The department of energy is providing additional information related toa 1962 underground nuclear test at the nevada test site that usedreactor grade plutonium in the nuclear explosive. Isotopic uranium and plutonium denaturing as an effective. The doe definition of reactor grade plutonium changed in 1976. In the weapons tests conducted in 1948 it was shown that an assembly system of the same size could also handle u235 effectively. Reactor grade plutonium is significantly more radioactive which complicates its use in nuclear weapons. Disposition of weaponsgrade plutonium in westinghouse. By the mid1960s, when reactor grade plutonium first started to become available, u. Weapons grade plutonium, for the very heart of the fat man atomic bomb used to obliterate nagasaki, japan, is first produced at the hanford nuclear reservation in southcentral washington state. The us disclosure confirms that reactor grade plutonium can be used for atom bombs and that britain was the source of the material used in a successful nuclear test in nevada in 1962.
So, plutonium produced in power reactors reactor grade plutonium, rgpu contains the larger amounts of heavier plutonium isotopes. Reactorgrade and weaponsgrade plutonium in nuclear. Criticality properties of reactor grade plutonium the original implosion assembly sys tem used in the trinity test in 1945 was capable of obtaining 20 kilotons from weap ons grade plutonium. Such a fuel cycle assessment is important, but relatively opaque because india regards various aspects of its nuclear fuel cycle as strategically sensitive. Weapons plutonium in irradiated mox fuel contains a considerably smaller proportion of pu239, and a higher. Reactor grade plutonium data as in nea nuclear science committee, physics of. Plutonium halflives, and weapongrade and reactorgrade.
It is also essential that the future arms control treaties like the fmct subject all plutonium regardless of its isotopic composition to treaty provisions. Analysis of soviet smoke detector plutonium special. The uranium238 from which most of the plutonium isotopes derive, by neutron capture, is frequently found alongside the u235 fuel in civilian reactors, in the form of low enriched uranium. Fat man fat man, one of the nuclear bombs that help end the world war ii, was a plutonium bomb. With original pu240 concentration near 20%, the 1 mg of plutonium used in this soviet ki1 smoke detector falls into the reactor grade classification rather than weapon grade. Plutonium disposed of in glass remains weapons grade about 93 percent pu239.
Behavior of plutonium and its alloys page 336 describe the fascinating mysteries of plutonium metallurgy in a forum open to the research community with the hope of attracting those young men and women into plutonium research. The main limitation will likely continue to be money for the reactors and reprocessing plants. Specifically a successful test was conducted in 1962, which used reactor gradeplutonium in the nuclear explosive in place of weapon grade plutonium. Percentages are of each nuclides total transmutation rate in a lwr, which is low for many nonfissile actinides. Plutonium as an energy source institute for energy and. In contrast, weaponsgrade plutonium is almost pure pu239 more than 90 percent. This doesnt mean you cant make a bomb from reactor grade plutonium. Plutonium is an essential element for producing nuclear bombs, which is why it was said that the discovery of plutonium was a work of the devil.
Lengthy irradiation of uranium fuel can change significantly isotopic composition of uranium in particular, isotopes 232 u and 236 u do appear. This book provides the necessary technical justification and consid. Economic comparison of reload costs, using free plutonium discount rate 0 % 76 23. Further, this mistaken belief has made reactor grade plutonium.
Fuel burnup nuclear reactor physics wiley online library. Regardless of the debate over the quality of the plutonium used in the 1962 test, and the more general debate over the suitability of reactor grade plutonium for weapons, it is worth noting again that civil power and research reactors can certainly be used to produce weapon grade or fuel grade plutonium simply by limiting the irradiation time. Comparing the options management and disposition of. Weapon grade plutonium is defined as plutonium containing no more than 7 percent plutonium 240. Thoria 96% tho 2 as the main fuel and 4% reactor grade puo 2 as booster material for reactor criticality, avoiding any presence of weapon grade plutonium in the mixed fuel. The reactor is designed to generate 880 mw of electrical power. Plutonium 239 239 pu, pu239 is an isotope of plutonium. In the united states, plutonium containing between 80 and 93 percent plutonium 239 is referred to as fuel grade plutonium, while plutonium with less than 80 percent plutonium 239 typical of plutonium in the spent fuel of lightwater and candu reactors at normal irradiation is referred to as reactorgrade plutonium. Nuclear policy, especially in europe, has often been justified by the belief110 that for making nuclear bombs, reactor grade plutonium produced by the normal operation of uraniumfuelled power reactors is necessarily much inferior to specially made weapons grade pu. Plutonium can be obtained from special purpose plutonium production reactors, or as a byproduct of commercial power or research reactors.
The plutonium produced by special purpose production reactors has a relatively low pu240 content 7% and is called weapons grade, while commercial reactors may produce plutonium with pu240 with. During the investigations, two different fuel compositions have been chosen. Us made atomic bomb with fuel from british reactors the. Plutonium halflives, and weapon grade and reactor grade 20 isotopic concentrations, at given fuel discharges table 2. The nuclear industry has repeatedly claimed that this 1962 nuclear test used only fuel grade plutonium not reactor grade. Grade uranium and plutonium composition of weapons.
Table 1 isotopic composition of first discharge plutonium from bushehr 1. Weapons grade plutonium is much more expensive to make and has much higher external environmental costs than other grades of plutonium, since the uranium 238 u from which it is made must be irradiated only a short time to prevent the formation of 240 pu. The key issue in jones work, as the title suggests, is the ability, with a bit of knowledge, to build a nuclear weapon with reactor grade plutonium. So, plutonium produced in power reactors reactorgrade plutonium, rgpu. Reactorgrade and weaponsgrade plutonium in nuclear explosives. An ultra low viscosity epm for example, our wealth of experience in reactor grade, precolored pet assures the brewer that the polymer will deliver consistent appearance and light. This poses a certain risk of proliferation since such plutonium, having a small content of higher isotopes and plutonium 238, may be used in weapons actually with no prior processing. Isotopic uranium and plutonium denaturing as an effective method.
Mar 30, 2007 the history of plutonium requires the explaining of a lot of physics and chemistry. I read tom zoellners history of uranium earlier this month and this book about plutonium seemed like a natural followup. The dimona nuclear reactor is used to produce plutonium used in atomic bombs. Exploding the myths, longtime defense analyst gregory s.
Disposition of weapons grade plutonium in westinghouse reactors full record. Composition of transuranium elements produced in canadian d2o moderated. This plutonium is clearly fuel grade, not reactor grade. For them, a reliable disposition method would have to change the isotopic composition of plutonium, converting it to socalled reactor grade plutonium, which has a high content of the pu240 isotope. Reactor grade plutonium rgpu 1 2 is the isotopic grade of plutonium that is found in spent nuclear fuel after the primary fuel, th. Disposition of weapons grade plutonium in westinghouse reactors title. If all three reactors were producing weapon grade plutonium, and they would have likely all been capable of doing so by about 2000, then they would have been producing 280 kilograms of weapon grade plutonium per year, assuming a capacity factor of 85 percent. Plutonium disposed of in glass remains weaponsgrade about 93 percent pu239. Although plutonium 240 is a nuclear explosive material, its presence.
Isotope grade pu238 pu239 pu240 pu241a pu242 super grade. Weapons grade plutonium would obviously be the most desirable form of plutonium, but if terrorists only had access to reactor grade material, they would most likely try to use it. Unlike weapon grade plutonium which is relatively pure plutonium 239, reactor grade. A successful test was conducted in 1962, which used reactor gradeplutonium in the nuclear explosive in place of. Estimating indias nuclear weaponsproducing capacity. The physical properties and the chemistry of plutonium were determined using only microgram micro 106 quantities.
Further, this mistaken belief has made reactorgrade plutonium. Explosive properties of reactorgrade plutonium 1 table 1. Plutonium also exists in trace quantities in naturally occurring uranium ores. Exploding the myths should all be subject to international monitoring. On the first question, the good news is that iaea safeguards do not differentiate plutonium based on its isotopic composition.
First, a swift primer about how fission bombs work. This belief has long been held by a segment of the nuclear power industry determined to. Sensitivity of plutonium indifference value to enrichment price and mox fabrication costs 72 22. An analysis of the current february 2009 status and future potential of indias nuclear fuel cycle is presented in this book. Jones book ought to be the last word on the matter. Military fissile material production and stocks in france. Table 1 shows the composition and atomic density of the reactor materials. This form requires a specially designed and operated reactor.
Super weapons grade plutonium contains less than 3% pu240, weapons grade plutonium contains less than 7% pu240, and reactor grade plutonium contains 7% or more pu240. Reactorgrade plutoniumrgpu is the isotopic grade of plutonium that is found in spent nuclear. Characteristics of highly enriched uranium and plutonium and 12 their production processes i. Jim harbaugh, cam newton and plutoniumgrade raw material. The smiling buddha blast and canadas candu snafu by ingmar lee in 1956 canada provided india with a 40 megawatt canadianindian reactor, u. Plutonium and uranium in grades normally used in nuclear weapons are the most common examples. Plutonium238 was the first isotope to be made, which are produced from uranium238. Interesting facts about plutonium a knowledge archive. In the united states, plutonium containing between 80 and 93 percent plutonium 239 is referred to as fuel grade plutonium, while plutonium with less than 80 percent plutonium 239 typical of plutonium in the spent fuel of lightwater and candu reactors at normal irradiation is referred to as reactor grade plutonium. Reactor grade plutonium is produced in the core of a reactor when uranium238 is irradiated with neutrons. Russia did agree in 2000 that some plutonium can be disposed of through immobilization, which does not change the isotopic composition.
Investigation of candu reactors as a thorium burner. The reactor was purchased from france as part of a secret agreement related to the suez war, in which the i. The fftf was a 400 mw, liquid sodiumcooled reactor located at the doe hanford site that operated from april 1982 to april 1992, primarily to explore reactor designs and operations that might be. Planet pluto plutonium was the second transuranium element of the actinide series to be discovered. The bn800 reactor is a sodiumcooled fast breeder reactor, built at the beloyarsk nuclear power station, in zarechny, sverdlovsk oblast, russia. The objective of this thesis work is to utilize computational models to reliably predict the intrinsic signature of the weapons grade plutonium separated from a pressurized heavy water reactor phwr, specifically an indian 220 mwe phwr. As it happens, north koreas first bombs were made not from uranium but weapons grade plutonium and, sure enough, iran built a plutonium reactor at a place called arak. Approximate isotopic composition of various grades of plutonium. The plant was considered part of the weapons grade plutonium management and disposition agreement signed between the united states and russia, with the reactor being part of the final. Weapons grade nuclear material is any fissionable nuclear material that is pure enough to make a nuclear weapon or has properties that make it particularly suitable for nuclear weapons use. Reactor grade plutonium can, in fact, be used in nuclear weapons, according to a 1997 report published by the us energy department, which said at the bottom of page 39 that in short, reactor grade plutonium is usable, whether by unsophisticated proliferators or by advanced nuclear weapon states. Plutonium 239 is the primary fissile isotope used for the production of nuclear weapons, although uranium235 has also been used. On plutonium, nuclear war, and nuclear peace atomic insights. In order to be suitable for this purpose, the material must meet certain criteria for plutonium content, isotopic composition, and impurity content.
Reactorgrade plutonium and nuclear weapons part one. Such small amounts and the fact that plutonium emits alpha radiation, which doesnt penetrate the skin, meant the risk of handling plutonium, compared to gammaemitting radionuclides, was. This is a part of our countrys history that so many people know very little about yet it continues to impact us today. Reactorgrade plutonium can be used to make powerful and.
As an example, isotopic composition of uranium fuel initial enrichment 4. Well, some people may not know, but today harbaugh supplied the definition of plutoniumgrade raw material. In fact, breeder reactors, when operated with uranium blankets, can be used to upgrade reactorgrade plutonium into weaponsgrade. A first generation nuclear explosive is very large, unsophisticated, and would use weapons grade plutonium a nominal explosion yield would be 20 kilotons with reactor grade plutonium, the yield would be more than 1 kiloton. The most important plutonium production facilities in the french nuclear weapons complex were the followon reactors g2 and g3, which came online in 1958 and 1959. Economic comparison of reload costs, using free plutonium discount rate 5 % 76 24. Before this, three grades were recognised, the change in definition for reactor grade, from describing plutonium with greater than 7% pu240 content prior to 1976, to reactor grade. May 15, 2014 this is known as reactorgrade plutonium. Nov 06, 20 cam newton, he said, thats plutoniumgrade raw material, you know. Any study therefore necessarily depends upon reverse calculations based on the information that is available. Fast reactors and nuclear nonproliferation problem. Avoided plutonium storage costs for 33 000 mwdt lwr fuel 70 21.
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