Disposal of Surplus Plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Interim Report (2018) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Disposition of Surplus Plutonium by the United States
2 Disposition of Surplus Plutonium by the United States
Pages 8-18
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 8... ...
, which was signed by the United States and the Russian Federation in 2000 and amended in 2010. The intent of the PMDA is for both parties to convert surplus plutonium into forms unusable for nuclear weapons; specific methods of disposition are outlined within the PMDA.
|
From page 9... ...
4. Physical: the weight and size of a nuclear fuel assembly are sufficient to require special handling equipment for processing.7 The United States began construction of a facility to manufacture MOX fuel, the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility ("MOX Plant")
|
From page 10... ...
shown with gray diagonal lines, labeled "MOX Fuel Fabrication (including pit disassembly and conversion) ." The gray-shaded boxes highlight the quantities 5.1 MT of non-pit and 7.1 MT of pit surplus plutonium.
|
From page 11... ...
A conceptual flowsheet for the dilute and dispose process is shown in Figure 2-2; four DOE sites would be involved in the implementation of this process: Pantex Plant in Texas; Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico; Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina; and WIPP in New Mexico.
|
From page 12... ...
Non-Pit Oxide Production indicates a total of 7.8 MT of non-pit plutonium that is stored in different DOE sites; a portion of the non-pit plutonium is oxidized and will be sent directly to the Savannah River Site for further processing, the remaining portion of non-pit plutonium will be shipped first to Los Alamos National Laboratory to be oxidized before being shipped to and processed at the SRS.10 All shipments described in this step are shipped via OST. During the Dilute and Process and Geological Repository Disposal steps, the oxidized plutonium is processed, packaged, and emplaced in WIPP.
|
From page 13... ...
and ending with emplacement in WIPP. As the final diluted product is prepared to be removed from the glovebox, no more than 150 fissile gram equivalents (FGE)
|
From page 14... ...
. The dilute and dispose process will require extensive interstate truck transportation over a projected period of about 25 years.14 The DOE OST15 will be responsible for shipping undiluted plutonium materials from the Pantex Plant to Los Alamos and from Los Alamos to Savannah River following safety, security, and safeguarding protocols that have been in use for many decades.
|
From page 15... ...
Panels One through Six have been closed. Panels Seven and Eight will continue to accept TRU waste although Panel Seven has been radiologically contaminated due to an exploding waste drum in 2014.
|
From page 16... ...
The Department shall ensure any proposed solution will continue to meet current transuranic waste disposal commitments."b FY 2017 In the Explanatory Statement for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, Congress approved use of $15 million with the following explanation: "The NNSA may use up to $15,000,000 to advance planning, to resolve regulatory and other issues, and to complete conceptual design activities for the dilute and dispose alternative to the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility."c (Continued)
|
From page 17... ...
Although requested, the committee has not yet seen a detailed NEPA strategy for the conceptual plan or details on what constitutes a final EIS, and the NOI had not been issued as of the writing of this Interim Report. Also seen in Figure 2-5 is the planned duration of the dilute and dispose process.
|
From page 18... ...
, life-cycle cost estimate which contains scheduling and program planning details) , and the Notice of Intent.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.