It it most likely that a terrorist seeking to manufacture a nuclear weapon would attempt to do do using high-enriched uranium (HEU) as its fissile material. At the same time, the economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union has made the supply of HEU in that region particularly vulnerable to theft or diversion. This report proposes three ways in which these stockpiles of HEU can be reduced, facilitating efforts to prevent the diversion of HEU to terrorist organizations. All three are low cost options that could be started and would produce results quickly.
| Acknowledgements HTML | PDF |
| Executive Summary HTML | PDF |
| Introduction HTML | PDF |
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The Threat of Diversion of Nuclear Weapons or Weapon Material from Russia |
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HEU Stockpiles - A Serious Threat, A Solvable Problem |
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Three Proposals to Expand Efforts to Reduce HEU Stockpiles in Russia |
| Proposal 1: Rapid Blend-Down of All Excess Russian Weapons-Origin HEU HTML | PDF |
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A Large HEU Stockpile Remains in Russia Outside of the HEU Deal |
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Proposal for Rapid Blend-Down of Additional Russian HEU |
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Cost Estimate for Doubling the Blend-Down of Russian HEU |
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Benefits from Expanding the HEU Blend-Down |
| Proposal 2: Remove HEU Stockpiles from Smaller, Less Secure Facilities HTML | PDF |
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Small Facilities are More Vulnerable to Theft |
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The DOE Materials Consolidation and Conversion Project |
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Limitations of the MCC Project |
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Funding Issues |
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Recommendations to Enhance the MCC Project |
| Proposal 3: Replace HEU Fuel in Soviet-Built Research and Test Reactors with LEU Fuel HTML | PDF |
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Soviet-Built Research Reactors |
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Why Fuel Conversion? |
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US-Russian Cooperation to Reduce Enrichment of Research Reactor Fuel |
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Moving Forward |
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Strengthening the US RERTR Program |
| Conclusion HTML | PDF |
| Appendix A: Overview of US Efforts to Control the Spread of Russian Nuclear Weapons, Materials, and Expertise HTML | PDF |
| Appendix B: The Existing HEU Agreement HTML | PDF |
| Notes HTML | PDF |
| Acronyms and Abbreviations HTML | PDF |
| Glossary HTML | PDF |
