NAS outlines barriers to NNSA's plutonium disposal plan

摘要

A 66-page report titled Disposal of Surplus Plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, prepared by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), is the first of two resulting from a congressionally mandated study to evaluate the general viability of the National Nuclear Security Administration's plan for disposing of 34 metric tons (t) of surplus plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant-a proposal under the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) signed by the United States and the Russian Federation in 2000 and revised in 2010. The interim report, released on November 30, provides a preliminary assessment of the NNSA's dilute-and-dispose approach. It recommends that if the Department of Energy uses this approach, two independent review teams be established to develop public trust in, and improve, its decisions, the first a re-initiation of a review organization representing the concerns of the state of New Mexico, where WIPP is located, and the second a separate team that would review the classified aspects of the DOE's conceptual plan as they are developed for Congress.