WASTE MANAGEMENT | SOLVING THE Pu PROBLEM
The Pu problem: No easy choices
Deciding what to do with the UK’s 140 tonnes of plutonium is challenging decision that will require a comprehensive assessment of the costs and benefits of either disposal or use. According to a new report Dalton Nuclear Institute, the government needs to get its thinking cap on
A NEW REPORT FROM THE Dalton Nuclear Institute of the University of Manchester explores long-term solutions to the issue of the UK’s roughly 140 tonnes of plutonium, produced from its civil reactor programme. Deciding whether to deploy and use the plutonium or dispose of the material is a complex question. As they point out, there are ‘No easy choices’ – all the future paths must overcome significant barriers and have the potential to appear sub-optimal in hindsight. The position is further complicated by the fact that plutonium has been perceived as “the element that dare not speak its name”. According to the report’s authors, the overarching
recommendation is that the UK government – which is ultimately responsible for management of the national plutonium stockpile – should as a first step acknowledge the challenge of such a multi- generational undertaking and put in place suitable arrangements to both examine the various considerations and develop provisions for the ultimate execution of the decision. “There are significant major uncertainties which can
only be managed through a long-term, programmatic approach with continuity, flexibility, adaptability, underpinned by Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) commensurate with the scale of the challenge,” the report states, adding that RD&I will not only decrease uncertainties and provide opportunities to accelerate the programme and reduce cost but will also be essential in developing the specialist community required for
delivery. Such an assessment will require an in-depth evaluation of the economics, safety, security, and available industrial capacity for each part of any potential plutonium lifecycle. Additionally, regardless of which strategy is eventually implemented, and as with most challenges facing the nuclear sector, a supply of suitably qualified and experienced staff for the duration of the process is essential. Preparation of a long-term vision for managing the UK’s plutonium stock must start now.
The origins and future choices for UK Pu The UK has a near 70-year history of nuclear generation based on uranium and covering three generations of reactor designs. Operation of nuclear power reactors produces plutonium from U238 through the process of neutron capture and much of the UK’s spent fuel was reprocessed with the plutonium separated. The UK started manufacturing plutonium for military purposes in 1950, reprocessing the fuel from the Windscale air-cooled, graphite-moderated piles. After closure of Windscale, reprocessing continued with spent fuel from the reactors at Calder Hall and Chapelcross and the series of Magnox reactors followed. Because of the nature of the fuel, reprocessing was obliged to continue until the end of the Magnox programme, with the last reactor ceasing generation in 2015 and Magnox reprocessing ending in 2022. Fuel from the second generation of reactors, the civil Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs), did not need to
Above: Chapelcross was one of the sources of the UK plutonium stockpile 20 | October 2023 |
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