As MOX Remains on Shut-down Track, National Academies of Sciences Review of Non-MOX Disposal of Surplus Plutonium Gets Under Way with Meeting in Washington; Public Meeting to be Held Near Savannah River Site in Early 2018

NAS Committee to Review “Dilute & Dispose” of Plutonium as Nuclear Waste, in WIPP Facility; Plutonium Immobilization not Revived but has been best Disposal Option Since Inception of Surplus Plutonium Project 

Columbia, SC – Given that the plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site remains on a termination track, a committee of the National Academies of Sciences last week began its review of disposing of surplus plutonium as nuclear waste in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.

The review, mandated by Congress and entitled “Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,” got under way with a public meeting on November 28 & 29 in Washington. At the webcast meeting, a number of presenters went over the technical aspects of plutonium disposition, including the pros and cons of plutonium disposal in the WIPP facility via the “dilute and dispose” technique.

full news release lined here

photo: Drums containing “Pip Overpack Containers” holding downblended SRS plutonium on surface at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, prior to placement under ground, with Tom Clements of SRS Watch in foreground, October 1, 2015