Background of U.S. Efforts to Dispose of Surplus Fissile Materials

摘要

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has significantly reduced the size of itsnuclear weapons arsenal. As a result of these reductions, large quantities of plutoniumand highly enriched uranium have become surplus to defense needs. The mission of theNational Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Fissile Materials Disposition is todispose of surplus U.S. highly enriched uranium (HEU) and surplus U.S. weapon-gradeplutonium and support Russia’s disposition of its surplus weapon-grade plutonium. Thispaper presents a historical context of U.S. fissile materials disposition efforts, discussesoptions that were considered, and provides a perspective on how these disposition effortshave evolved.