The German Plutonium Balance, 1968-1999
By Martin B. Kalinowski, Wolfgang Liebert, Silke Aumann
Growing stockpiles of civilian separated plutonium pose a serious nonproliferation challenge. The international community and individual states with civilian nuclear programs face the question of how this material can be safely processed or stored for the long term. A number of countries, including Germany, Japan, Russia, and Great Britain confront significant plutonium surpluses and currently lack assured plans for its disposal.
In this article, Martin B. Kalinowski of the Preparatory Committee for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization and Wolfgang Liebert and Silke Aumann of the Darmstadt University of Technology trace the development of the German plutonium stockpiles since 1968. The authors provide a comprehensive estimate of German plutonium stocks, analyzing the results of foreign and domestic reprocessing of spent nuclear power reactor fuel as well as the production and use of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. The report concludes that because the German MOX program will have difficulty absorbing existing German stocks of this material, the future of the German reprocessing program has been placed in doubt, and new initiatives are urgently needed to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy for addressing the German plutonium surplus. (Article Abstract)
The Nonproliferation Review, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Spring 2002, Volume 9, Number 1, Monterey Institute of International Studies, 460 Pierce Street, Monterey, CA 93940, USA Telephone: +1 (831) 647-4154
