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Plutonium—the ‘forever’ radiotoxic weapons-proliferation risk in nuclear reactor spent fuel. How exactly should we manage its containment?

Plutonium—the ‘forever’ radiotoxic weapons-proliferation risk in nuclear reactor spent fuel. How exactly should we manage its containment?

Nick Scarr 55 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2025 Last revised: 27 Aug 2026,
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5402553

Abstract

The paper is a research dossier and examines the properties of plutonium in terms of its two principal hazards: toxicity and weapons proliferation. It will then address the question of whether there is a sufficient safety-case for the long-term geological storage of plutonium-bearing spent fuel.

Keywords: Plutonium, GDF, Weapons Proliferation, Criticality, MOX, Reprocessing, Keff, 5f, Pu-240, Pu-239, reactor-grade, prompt neutrons, HALEU, high burnup, geological disposal, plutonium residue, plutonium oxide, IAEA, sellafield, cultural exceptionalism, anhydrite, biological half life, committed dose, biological half-life, predictability fallacy, fission-fusion-fission, Barn rating, mox, inert matrix fuel, TRISO, intergenerational ethics

September 4, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - plutonium