Plutonium Issues
- "Disposition of separated plutonium" Science & Global Security
- Provides a detailed analysis of plutonium disposition options, including safeguarded
storage, MOX-fuel, and vitrification, as well as a discussion of the sources of separated
plutonium. Scope: Global.
Berkhout, Frans, Anatoli Diakov, Harold
Feiveson, Helen Hunt, Marvin Miller, and Frank von Hippel. 3, Nos. 3-4 (March 1993): pp.
161-213.
- International Nuclear Waste Management Fact Book
- This small-format book provides comprehensive country by country data on nuclear
facilities, institutions and personnel. Scope: Global.
C.W. Abrahms, M.D. Patridge, and J.E. Widrig. Richland, Washington: Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory (for the U.S. Dept. of Energy), November 1995.
- Limiting the Spread of Weapon-Usable Fissile Materials
- Contains cost analysis of plutonium use in reactors, showing that there would be net
costs to MOX use because the price of uranium is low. Scope: Global.
Chow, Brian G., and Kenneth A. Solomon. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1993.
- Kousoku Zoushokuro Monju (FBR Monju)
- Provides technical information on fast breeder reactors, as well as details about
specific fast breeder programs around the world, with a focus on the Monju reactor.
Kobayashi, Keiji. Nanatsumori Shokan, 1994. In Japanese.
- Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons
- Provides a thorough review of the options for disposition of surplus weapons
plutonium in the United States. It recommends three options for consideration: use of plutonium
as mixed plutonium-uranium oxide fuel, vitrification of plutonium, and deep borehole
emplacement of plutonium. It points out that even use of plutonium as a fuel will result in a net
cost due to the low price of uranium and the high cost of MOX fuel fabrication. Scope mainly
U.S., but discussion of connected Russian aspects of the issue. See our article "Plutonium as an Energy Source" for
information on the related 1995 report.
National Academy of
Sciences. Washington, D.C.: Committee on International Security and Arms Control, 1994. In
English and Russian.
- Plutonium: The First Fifty Years -- United States Plutonium Production, Acquisition
and Utilization from 1944 to 1994
- Part of the "openness initiative" of U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary
to make public formerly secret data on various nuclear weapons related activities. It contains a
remarkable amount of information on U.S. plutonium, including detailed site specific data. Data
on U.S. imports and exports of plutonium are provided. Scope: Mainly U.S.
U.S. Department of Energy. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy, February
1996.
- Plutonium Working Group Report on Environmental, Safety and Health Vulnerabilities
Associated with the DepartmentŐs Plutonium Storage
- Discusses the problems arising from storage of various chemical forms of plutonium
and plutonium residues left at the end of the Cold War. Problems with deterioration of storage
containers, such as formation of flammable gases due to radiolysis are also discussed. Scope:
U.S.
U.S. Department of Energy. Draft. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of Energy, Publication Number DOE/EH-0415, September 1994.
- Plutonium wo Tou (International Conference on Plutonium)
- Proceedings from a 1991 conference held in Omiya, Japan, covering a diverse range
of issues relating to the Japanese policy to use plutonium as an energy source. Provides
information on the health and environmental impacts of plutonium, fast breeder reactor and
MOX fuel programs, concerns about the transportation of plutonium, and proliferation dangers.
Takagi, Jinzaburo, ed. Shakai Shiso-sha, 1993. In Japanese.
- Quantities of Fissile Materials in US and Soviet Nuclear Weapons
- Contains estimates of production of weapons usable fissile materials in the U.S. and
Russia prior to the declassification initiatives of recent years. There is useful information on
estimation techniques. In particular, Soviet plutonium production is estimated using estimates of
the krypton-85 emitted by world-wide reprocessing plants. Very useful for understanding
estimation tools used by non-government scientists to help persuade governments to be more
open with data.
Von Hippel, Frank, D. Albright, and B. Levi.
PU/CEES Report No. 168. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University, Center for Energy and
Environmental Studies, 1986.
- World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1992
- The most comprehensive, reliable source of public information on weapons-usable
plutonium and highly enriched uranium, with a considerable amount of historical information.
Some of the more recent data are published in this newsletter. Scope: Global.
Albright, David , Frans Berkhout, and William Walker. Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press, 1993.
Energy Issues
- Energia Budushego Veka/Future Age Energy
- A quarterly journal focusing on renewable and sustainable energy technologies. The
paper version is available in Russian. The English version (available only in electronic form) is
edited by the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST) in Washington, D.C., and can be accessed
through their web page.
Information Agency "Echo-Vostok," Quarterly 1996-present, Kiev.
- Energy for a Sustainable World
- Goldemberg, Jose, Thomas B. Johansson, Amulya K. N. Reddy, and
Robert H. Williams, eds. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1988; and Johansson, Thomas B.,
Henry Kelly, Amulya K. N. Reddy, and Robert H. Williams.
- Renewable Energy: Sources for Fuels and Electricity
- Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993.
These books present detailed discussion and analysis of present energy use and of energy
alternatives for the future.
- Power Surge: Guide to the Coming Energy Revolution
-
Covers the state of renewable energy sources in detail.
Flavin, Christopher, and Nicholas Lenssen. New York and London: W.W.
Norton & Company, 1994.
For copies of U.S. Department of Energy Materials, contact:
U.S. Deptartment of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585 USA
For copies of U.S. National Academy of Sciences reports, contact:
Committees on International Security and Arms Control
U.S. National Academy of Sciences
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20055 USA
For copies of Institute for Energy and Environmental Research reports, contact:
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
6935 Laurel Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912 USA
or see the IEER Publications Page
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