Israel Ensure's Its Nuclear Weapons Supremacy

Scientists Create New Way To Battle Nuclear Proliferation

By Meg Marquardt,
Science News Examiner
March 5, 8:52 AM
Courtesy Of The Examiner

A university in Israel has created a process to “denature” the plutonium that is found in nuclear reactors, making it unsuitable for use in nuclear weapons. This may be the first step in halting world-wide nuclear proliferation.

Uranium is the element used for the fuel in nuclear reactors. As uranium goes through the reaction process, plutonium is formed as a bi-product. If taken directly the waste of nuclear fuel, the plutonium can be used to outfit nuclear arms. Published in the journal Science and Global Security, the denaturing (ie making the plutonium inert) technique conceived at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev adds an isotope of the element Americium, Am 241, to the uranium fuel. Am 241 would only affect the plutonium, not the uranium, so the fuel could only be used for peaceful, power-generating purposes.

It is hoped that the five countries that build and sell nuclear reactors—The US, Russia, Germany, France and Japan—would agree to add the Am 241 to their reactors before shipping them out. "When you purchase a nuclear reactor from one of the five countries, it also provides the nuclear fuel for the reactor," explains Prof. Yigal Ronen, of BGU's Department of Nuclear Engineering, who headed the project. "Thus, if the five agree to insert the additive into fuel for countries now developing nuclear power -- such as Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen -- they will have to use it for peaceful purposes rather than warfare." [EurekAlert]

The press release made no mention of using the technique with existing nuclear reactors that are also capable of making plutonium. It did, however, specifically state that the Am 241 “is meant for pressurized water reactors (PWRs), such as the one being built in Iran.” [EurekAlert]

Nuclear power is one of the most efficient ways to produce energy used to create electricity. And contrary to popular belief, it is an extremely safe power source as well. It is also a very clean source of energy as far as CO2 footprints go, but the long-term storage of spent uranium fuel has long been a heated debate. If the denaturing process is truly effective and can be applied to nuclear reactors, the rate at which developing countries could access them may increase, offering them a better shot at efficient, peaceful energy.