Estimating Impurities in Surpl us Plutonium for Dispositio

The United States holds at least 61. 5 metric tons (MT) of plutonium that is permanently excess to use in nuclear weapons programs, including 47.2 MT of weapons-grade plutonium. Surplus inven- tories will be stored safely by the Department of Energy (DOE) and then transferred to facilities that will prepare the plutonium for permanent dis position. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) operates a Feed Characterization program for the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition of the National Nuclear Security Administration an d the DOE Office of Environmental Management. Many of the items that require disposition are only partially characterized, a nd SRNL uses a variety of techniques to predict the is otopic and chemical properties th at are important for processing through the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facili ty and alternative disposition paths. Recent advances in laboratory tools, including Prompt Gamma Analysis and Peroxide Fusion treatment, provide data on the existing inventories that will enable disposition without additional, costly sam- pling and destructive analysis.