PLUTONIUM stored at Britain鈥檚 Sellafield reprocessing plant in Cumbria should be burnt in the country鈥檚 nuclear power stations. This is the controversial view of an expert group of scientists due to report to the Royal Society in October.
Although plutonium is licensed to be used in more than 30 reactors in Europe, it has never been burnt in a commercial power station in Britain. Any plan to do so will be fiercely opposed by environmentalists alarmed at the risk of plutonium leaking or being stolen in transit.
The expert group, chaired by the former chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence, Ronald Mason, has been reviewing British policy on plutonium. One of its recommendations will be that plutonium from the 50-tonne stockpile at Sellafield-which contains a third of the world鈥檚 civil plutonium-be made into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. The fuel should then be burnt in the seven advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) run by British Energy.
Advertisement
The Royal Society says that the group鈥檚 deliberations are confidential and refuses to name its members. But Mason confirmed to 快猫短视频 that burning plutonium in AGRs was 鈥渁n option we have put on the table鈥�.
This is backed by another member of the group, Bill Wilkinson, chairman of the British Nuclear Industry Forum, which represents Britain鈥檚 nuclear companies. He says that burning plutonium in AGRs is 鈥渙ne of several options that need to be considered鈥�, although he stresses there are economic barriers.
The Royal Society group may also urge the government to consider subsidising British Energy to use MOX fuel. British Energy says that converting its AGRs to take MOX fuel would be costly, and it has never been enthusiastic about the idea.
However British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), which runs the reprocessing plant at Sellafield, is keen to expand the market for MOX because it is now completing a MOX fabrication plant at Sellafield. 鈥淭here are no technical reasons why significant quantities of MOX fuel could not be loaded into AGR cores and BNFL possesses the necessary expertise to manufacture such fuel,鈥� says a spokesman for the company.
But William Walker, an expert on plutonium at St Andrews University, thinks that making MOX fuel may not be the best option. He argues that Britain should join the US in investigating the idea of blending existing stocks with high-level waste for ultimate disposal.
