IAEA Inspection of U.S. Excess Fissile Materials: The Next Round

A total of 226 metric tons (MT) of excess highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium has been declared excess to U.S. national security needs. Of this amount, 90 MT of HEU and plutonium are either already under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection or committed to be available in the future. There are 12 MT of excess HEU and plutonium under IAEA safeguards at the Oak Ridge, Rocky Flats and Hanford sites. At the IAEA General Conference in September 1996, former Secretary O’Leary declared that an additional 26 MT of HEU would be made available for inspection within three years. A portion of this material is now being inspected by the IAEA as part of a verification experiment being conducted on HEU downblending operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. In September 1997, Secretary Peña announced that a further 52 MT of excess HEU and plutonium would soon be made available for IAEA inspections. This paper identifies potential options and schedules for making the next round of excess fissile materials available for IAEA inspection.