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> Plutonium from a pressurised water reactor is too impure for military use. It is polluted with actinides, which are neutron poisons. It is the techniques for
by rtkwe 2y ago
> Plutonium from a pressurised water reactor is too impure for military use. It is polluted with actinides, which are neutron poisons. It is the techniques for separating plutonium and actinides that are problematic.
That's just what I was able to find as part of the reasoning behind the anti-reprocessing stance the US started back then and continues to follow today. Even a dirty source of plutonium would be a risk for diversion into a more secretive refining program.
- Beretta_Vexee 2y agoNot really. Countries able to reprocess spent fuel generally have a large stock of weapons-grade plutonium from disarmament and warhead upgrades. For a non-nuclear-weapon nation, there are simpler and cheaper ways of producing higher-quality plutonium than building a fleet of PWR power stations and a reprocessing plant. The real problem with reprocessing is that it is not very profitable if the cost of disposing of the waste is low.