Now that MOX is dead, will this plutonium go to WIPP in New Mexico to be disposed of as the waste that it is?
“Maintaining Continuity of Knowledge on Nuclear Waste Destined for Geological Repositories. A Case Study of Plutonium Shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)” – 2018 – document linked here
“This study examines methods that can help maximize confidence in maintaining Continuity of Knowledge (CoK) on plutonium-bearing wastes, from a final safeguards-verification measurement through emplacement underground. The study identifies Containment and Surveillance (C/S) measures that can be applied during packaging of plutonium wastes at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, USA, through shipment to, and receipt and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA. Results of this study could apply to countries with a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) that plan to dispose in a geological repository plutonium or other non-fuel nuclear materials that are under international safeguards. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank Paul Shoemaker of Sandia’s Defense Waste Management Program, Janice Trone at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and Bruce Moran at Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) LLC for many helpful discussions. Contributions and research support by graduate nuclear engineering intern, Rainbow Suh, of Texas A&M are also greatly appreciated. This work was supported by the Office of International Nuclear Safeguards Concepts and Approaches Subprogram under NNSA’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Office of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525.”