ABSTRACT
The choice of plutonium as nuclear fuel offers the tantalizing prospect of energy independence, with early liberation from oil and even from uranium producers. As plutonium is a product of all currently operating nuclear reactors, it has the attraction of being potentially available. Today’s world is only beginning to recognize the complexities of this potential problem. The nearly 200 thermal reactors now operating have so far produced about 150 tonnes of plutonium, but most of this plutonium is still in the reactors or in spent fuel stocks. Restraint in reprocessing may be brought about in fact by natural causes. The growth of nuclear power has slowed considerably since the optimistic projections of the 1960s and even the early 1970s. Rising costs, increasing public resistance and increasing awareness of the insoluble problems which nuclear energy entails have dampened much of the original enthusiasm. Technological choices will not suffice, however, to eliminate all risks of nuclear weapon proliferation.
