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Russia III: Washington, Moscow Negotiate U.S. Design for MOX Plant The United States and Russia have reportedly begun “active” discussions to enable Russia to dispose of weapon-grade plutonium using a replica of a U.S. mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel plant, Nuclear Fuel reported last week (see GSN, May 16). Originally, Russian officials had planned to use a German MOX plant, but earlier this year Germany refused to support exporting the plant, according to Nuclear Fuel. The United States and Russia are now negotiating using a replica of a plant that U.S. company Duke Cogema Stone & Webster is building at the U.S. Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (see GSN, June 21). Currently, there are few alternatives to using the DCS design, a U.S. official indicated. “Right now, the betting is on this horse,” the official said, adding, “Right now, it’s the only horse in the race.” Russia has asked several “detailed questions” and is waiting to review the U.S. answers, the official said, adding that a decision might come by the end of the year. The DCS design would probably have to be “Russianized,” the official said. That process, however, would probably be done through a partnership of DCS and Russian designers and not by Russia alone, the official said. Using the DCS design would counteract an important incentive for Russia, which is an expectation that funds for the plutonium disposition program would help support Russian research on fuel-cycle ventures, according to experts. The advantage of using the DCS design, however, is that it helps to reduce cost and schedule overruns, the U.S. official said. “That whole idea of ‘Let’s keep a whole lot of R&D going’ runs counter to keeping the lid on costs and schedules,” the official said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has criticized the pace of the Russian plutonium disposition program as a whole, according to Nuclear Fuel. In a conference report on the recently passed fiscal 2003 defense authorization act, lawmakers indicated that they are frustrated with “the slow pace of the Russian program” and called for “transparent and verifiable steps to enable the United States to have the necessary assurances that the schedule for the disposition of plutonium will be achieved.” The lawmakers also called, however, for the Energy Department “to conduct research on more speculative, long-term options” for the Russian plutonium disposition plan (Daniel Horner, Nuclear Fuel, Nov. 25).
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