Plutonium Inventory

The National Nuclear Security Administration recently released a report containing updated numbers on the U.S. plutonium inventory.

According to an NNSA statement on the report:

* The plutonium inventory, maintained under nuclear material control and accountability, is 95.4 MT, a 4.1 MT decrease to the 1994 inventory. The most important factor for the reduction in inventory was the reclassification of process residues originally set aside for plutonium recovery as waste. Of the 4.1 MT reduction, 85 percent came from Rocky Flats residues sent to WIPP for disposition;

* The cumulative inventory difference for accountable plutonium is 2.4 MT, a 0.4 MT decrease to the 2.8 MT made public in the 1996 plutonium report. The 0.4 MT decrease in the cumulative inventory difference is attributed to materials recovered during de-inventorying and closure activities at Rocky Flats and the Hanford Site in Washington.

* Plutonium surplus to defense needs is now 43.4 MT, a 5.2 MT increase to the 1994 declaration; and

* The plutonium estimated in waste is 9.7 MT, a 5.8 MT increase to the 1994 inventory of 3.9 MT. The increase is attributed to: 4.4 MT in new discards from the accountable inventory; 0.8 MT increase in Rocky Flats solid waste generated prior to 1970; 0.4 MT increase in Hanford high level waste tank estimates; 0.1 MT in solid waste at a commercial low-level radioactive disposal facility not included in the 1996 report, and 0.1 MT from other sites.