UK plutonium stocks disposition solution elusive, officials say

摘要

The UK stockpile of plutonium recovered from reprocessing of spent fuel will stand at 140 mt by the end of 2020, but there is currently no clearly attractive option for the disposition of this material, according to the UK’s state-owned Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and two industry sources. All separated civilian plutonium in the UK is stored is at the Sellafield facility in northern England, under the government’s plutonium consolidation policy, for security and economic reasons. Reprocessing work at Sellafield will be completed by the end of 2020. An executive working in the UK nuclear decommissioning industry said in an interview October 30 that the government had provided an update on disposition options earlier this year, but it was “in reality no further along than when this process started in 2011.” The executive spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.