The reprocessing system now used in Europe, Japan, and Russia that involves separation and recycling of plutonium presents unwarranted proliferation risks.
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I am an MIT alum - and I know the people that wrote
the study.
However, did you see the qualifier on the above
statement - the technologies used in Europe, Japan
and Russia present risks..
However, I'm not in favor of using the European /
Japanese technology. I'm in favor of using
US technology that makes it IMPOSSIBLE to make
weapons out of the spent fuel; the IFR technology.
Again I post the link to the interview by Frontline
with Dr. Charles Till of Argonne National Lab.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/...Q: So it would be very difficult to handle for weapons, would it?
A: It's impossible to handle for weapons, as it stands.
It's highly radioactive. It's highly heat producing. It has all of the characteristics
that make it extremely, well, make it impossible for someone to make a weapon.
I also previously posted here a link to a letter to
the New York Times by Senators Simon and Kempthorne
that referenced a study by our own nuclear weapons lab
Lawrence Livermore, that stated that one can't make
nuclear weapons out of IFR spent fuel. Because
Lawrence Livermore designs US nuclear weapons, they
should know what can / can not be used to make a
nuclear weapon.
Dr. Greg