Dresden 2011 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 1: Fissile Materials and Arms Control

AGA 1.1: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 16. März 2011, 14:00–15:00, BEY 81

Securing Russian fissile materials — •Pavel Podvig — Russian Nuclear Forces Project, Geneva

Russia has the world`s largest stocks of weapon-usable fissile materials at its disposal. Most of this material is a military legacy of the Cold War, but significant amounts of weapon-grade material are present on the civilian side of nuclear complex as well. Russia has ended production of weapon-grade material. However, substantial quantities of weapon-usable fissile materials are still in storage or being transferred from one facility to another, or used for research and other purposes. Providing security of that material will be a major task for Russia in the coming years and decades.

Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has undertaken significant efforts to downsize its nuclear complex. The basic structure of the nuclear industry, including most of its production facilities and fissile materials, however, remained intact. Recently, the Russian nuclear industry has undertaken an ambitious modernization effort, which presents an opportunity to address most of the issues related to safety and security of fissile materials and related infrastructure. These will include reducing the number of facilities that store and handle HEU, conversion of research and naval reactors, disposition of weapon-grade plutonium. Addressing these issues would require a careful policy choices that take into account political and technical realities that exist in Russia today.