United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-01-14 monographic deposited born digital 40 p. GA 1.13:RCED-98-46 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46 P0b002ee18037fc82 f:rc98046 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46 RCED-98-46 International cooperation Nuclear waste management Atomic energy defense activities Nuclear facilities Nuclear weapons Nuclear waste disposal Radioactive wastes Nuclear proliferation Cost analysis Russia DOE Yucca Mountain Project (NV) Russian VVER-1000 Nuclear Reactor Russian BN-600 Nuclear Reactor Other Written Product RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the goals of the Department of Energy's (DOE) plutonium disposition program and the impediments facing its implementation; (2) U.S. government officials' views on the importance of a U.S.-Russian agreement on plutonium disposition and the status of efforts to negotiate an agreement; (3) the costs to implement plutonium disposition programs in the United States and Russia; and (4) experts' views about the potential nonproliferation impacts of the U.S. plutonium disposition program; and (5) surplus nuclear weapons that are among the sources of plutonium for DOE's disposition plan.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) DOE's plutonium disposition program seeks to decrease the risk of nuclear proliferation by reducing U.S. plutonium stockpiles by about half over the next 25 years and by influencing Russia to take reciprocal actions, with the goal of reducing Russia's stockpiles to U.S. levels; (2) achieving these mutual reductions is a challenge because DOE's immobilization and mixed oxide fuel technologies have not yet been demonstrated on an industrial scale in the United States, and licensing, regulatory, and environmental issues will need to be addressed for both options; (3) the Russian plutonium stockpile is estimated to be about twice as large as the U.S. stockpile, and Russia may not have the financial resources to implement its program in a time frame comparable to that of the U.S.; (4) according to some U.S. executive branch officials, the success of the U.S. plutonium disposition program depends on Russia's implementing a similar program because a U.S.-only program could be seen as putting the United States at a strategic disadvantage and would not be supported by Congress or the international community; (5) executive branch officials told GAO that a plutonium disposition agreement between the United States and Russia should be negotiated before large-scale expenditures are made for U.S. plutonium disposition facilities; (6) no formal negotiations have begun to implement such an agreement; (7) DOE's preliminary estimates indicate that implementing the U.S. disposition program, which focuses on two technologies to convert plutonium to safer, more proliferant-resistant forms, could cost approximately $2.2 billion over the next 25 years; (8) the cost for a similar program in Russia could range between $1 billion and $2 billion, according to DOE's estimates; (9) U.S. assistance to Russia's program is expected to total between $40 million and $80 million over the next 5 to 7 years and includes plans to construct a pilot-scale plutonium conversion facility; (10) differing views exist about the potential nuclear nonproliferation impacts of DOE's plutonium disposition program and include: (a) a contention that DOE's consideration of burning plutonium in commercial nuclear reactors may pave the way for plutonium recycling and reverse a long-standing policy; and (b) a concern that an industry for mixed oxide fuel would be created in Russia that would increase opportunities for diversion and theft of nuclear materials; and (11) Department of State officials state that these and other issues will have to be addressed in a future binding agreement with Russia. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46.pdf GAO/RCED-98-46 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-46 Other Written Product GAO/RCED-98-46; Nuclear Nonproliferation and Safety: Uncertainties About the Implementation of U.S.-Russian Plutonium Disposition Efforts; International cooperation Nuclear waste management Atomic energy defense activities Nuclear facilities Nuclear weapons Nuclear waste disposal Radioactive wastes Nuclear proliferation Cost analysis Russia DOE Yucca Mountain Project (NV) Russian VVER-1000 Nuclear Reactor Russian BN-600 Nuclear Reactor