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Fissile Material Disposition News

2000

• RUSSIA/U-S/PLUTONIUM, Voice of America, 02 September 2000 -- U-S Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov have formally signed an agreement for each country to destroy 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium.
• Gore Signs U.S.-Russia Plutonium Disposition Agreement, THE WHITE HOUSE, Office of the Vice President, 01 September 2000 -- The agreement was announced by President Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Moscow June 4 and provides for the irreversible transformation of excess weapons plutonium into forms unusable for weapons.
• Disposition of United States And Russian Federation Weapon-Grade Plutonium, The White House, Office of the Secretary, 21 July 2000 -- The G-8 today took an important step toward disposition of weapon-grade fissile material designated by the United States and Russia as excess to defense needs so that it will never again be used for weapons.
• The U.S.-Russian Plutonium Nonproliferation Agreement, Dr. Michael Guhin, U.S. Negotiator and Representative for Plutonium Disposition, 29 June 2000 -- One of the critical challenges of nuclear disarmament is how to guarantee that material that comes out of nuclear weapons -- for example, in this case, plutonium -- is never again used for weapons, or how to guarantee that it never falls into the wrong hands. I
• Letter To The Congress of The United States, The White House, Office of the Secretary, 22 June 2000 -- "...I have exercised my authority to declare a national emergency to deal with the threat posed to the United States by the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation in the Russian Federation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material..."
• Blocking Property of The Government Of The Russian Federation Relating To The Disposition Of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted From Nuclear Weapons, The White House, Office of the Secretary, 22 June 2000 -- "I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON...find that the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."
• Text: Holum Outlines U.S.-Russian Non-Proliferation Efforts 08 June 2000 -- Senior Arms Control Adviser John Holum says the United States is "working closely with Russia" to help remove excess material from weapons programs to ensure that it is "never again used, by anyone, for military purposes" and "to prevent leakage to terrorists and proliferant states."
• CLINTON - RUSSIA Voice of America 04 June 2000 -- The United States and Russia have announced a nuclear nonproliferation accord and an agreement to create an early warning system to detect missile launches.
• FACT SHEET United States - Russian Federation Plutonium Disposition Agreement -- June 4, 2000
• PRESS BRIEFING BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ON PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION AGREEMENT June 4, 2000 -- U.S. and Russia will be required to dispose of 34 tons each of weapons-grade plutonium that is being removed from military programs. Our current cost estimate for the program in Russia is about $1.75 billion; for the program in the United States, about $4 billion.

  1999

  1998

  1997

• DISPOSITION OF EXCESS WEAPON PLUTONIUM AND URANIUM by Richard L. Garwin, "4th Pugwash Workshop on The Future of the Nuclear Weapons Complexes of the U.S. and Russia", Moscow and Snezhinsk, 9-13 September 1997
• DOE ISSUES PLAN FOR OBTAINING PRIVATE SECTOR HELP TO DISPOSE OF SURPLUS PLUTONIUM DOE News Release - July 17, 1997 -- The United States Department of Energy (DOE) today issued for public comment a Program Acquisition Strategy for Obtaining Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication and Reactor Irradiation Services.
• Department of Energy Seeks Public Comments on Plans to Site Plutonium Disposition Facilities DOE News Release - May 20, 1997 -- The first technology is immobilization -- encasement in glass or ceramic material -- and the second is burning the plutonium as Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel in commercial reactors. The preferred alternative for immobilization involves the department's Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC.
• DOE ANNOUNCES DECISION ON THE STORAGE AND DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS NUCLEAR WEAPONS MATERIALS DOE News Release - January 14, 1997 -- Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary signed a Record of Decision finalizing a dual-track strategy to irreversibly dispose of the Nation's surplus plutonium and to reduce from seven to three the number of sites where surplus nuclear weapons materials are stored.

  1996

• Post-Cold War Plans for Plutonium Disposal, Weapons Dismantlement and Solar Energy at Nevada Test Site Announced DOE News Release - December 9, 1996 -- The Department of Energy (DOE) today laid out a dual-track strategy to irreversibly dispose of the nation's surplus plutonium and to reduce from seven to three the number of sites where nuclear weapons materials are stored.
• Surplus Bomb-Grade Uranium Never Again To Be Used in Weapons DOE News Release - July 31, 1996 -- Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) will blend down surplus highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU) for sale as commercial reactor fuel.

  1995

• NUCLEAR STOCKPILE CONVERSION TAKES NEW STEP DOE News Release - June 7, 1995 -- The United States today announced a big step in reducing its excess nuclear stockpile, when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) began the dilution of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to a lower level for use as commercial nuclear reactor fuel at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

  1994

  1993

  1992

  1991