Dilute and Dispose Faces Hurdles, Including Capacity of WIPP Disposal Site in New Mexico
Columbia, South Carolina – U.S. Department of Energy documents confirm that DOE has officially justified disposition of larger amounts of surplus weapon-grade plutonium via “dilute and dispose,” an alternative to the mismanaged plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site.
The “dilute and dispose” process would package and dispose of the plutonium as waste rather than processing it for use as nuclear reactor fuel. The disposal processes consists of mixing plutonium oxide with “stardust,” a secret inert material, into small containers that are then placed in drums for geologic disposal.
The documents, obtained by Savannah River Site Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act request in November 2016, reveal DOE’s step-by-step approach in expanding dilute and dispose operations at SRS and other support sites, while at the same time terminating the unsustainable MOX project. As the dilute and dispose method is in developmental stages, the documents reveal that its full-scale deployment faces challenges.