Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Studsvik, US nuclear bombs, and US nuclear waste (1989)
| Auteur | M.Goldstick |
| Datum | september 1989 |
| Classificatie | 3.01.5.23/04 (VS - OPWERKING - ALGEMEEN) |
| Voorkant | 
|
Uit de publicatie:
Introduction
Spent fuel from the R-2 research reactor at Studsvik Energiteknik AB is sent to
the United States where it becomes raw material for nuclear weapons. The spent
fuel contributes to the U.S. supply of plutonium, high enriched uranium (HEU),
uranium- 238, and tritium. A modem nuclear bomb contains all these materials.
A diagram illustrating the different components of an H-bomb is represented in
Figure 1.
The Studsvik spent fuel, highly enriched in uranium-235, has been sent to the
reprocessing ("upparbetning") plant and plutonium production reactors at the
Savannah River Plant (SRP) in South Carolina, and the Idaho National Engineering
Laboratory (INEL) reprocessing plant in Idaho Falls, Idaho. (l) Both SRP and INEL
are key facilities in the U.S. nuclear weapons production complex, as is illustrated
in Figure 2. Both are run by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which enjoys
the privilege of regulating its own activities.
There are five military production reactors at SRP, which were the only U.S. domestic
source of tritium and weapons grade plutonium. Two of the five reactors are shut
down permanently, and the remaining three reactors were shut down in April 1988
because of dangerously old equipment and incompetence of plant operators. These
three were cut back to 40% capacity from after the Chernobyl accident to the time
of their shutdown. A few of the reactors may restart in 1990. To insure supplies of
tritium, the DOE plans to build two new tritium producing reactors, one at SRP and
the other at INEL at a cost of about US $7 billion over the 10 year construction
period.
At both the SRP and INEL there have been huge releases of radioactive gas to the
atmosphere and liquid waste into the ground, putting at risk the health of thousands
of workers and millions of people living downwind and downstream. The long-lived
nature of the radioactivity also endangers future generations. Further, since SRP and
INEL are only two links in a complex chain of facilities located throughout the U.S.,
dangerous radioactive materials are continually moved between links in the chain.
Below is some brief information about the Studsvik R-2 reactor. Then, a summary
of the Studsvik - U.S. DOE trade agreement, and public trade statistics are given.
Included is an example of a formal license document given to Studsvik to export
spent fuel. Before a short conclusion and list of some questions raised, some
additional facts about problems at SRP are added.
A "Glossary of Technical Terms" is included at the end for readers unfamiliar with
definitions of low and high enriched uranium, plutonium, reprocessing, and tritium.
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