a fissile material approach to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation /
Harold Feiveson, Alexander Glaser, Zia Mian, and Frank N. von Hippel
1 online resource (x, 277 pages) :
illustrations, map
Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-261) and index
The global stockpile, continued production and use of plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilitates proliferation, increases the risk of nuclear terrorism and is an obstacle to achieving irreversible nuclear disarmament. The book explains how these materials are used, describes the histories of fissile material production for weapons, provides an overview of the current global stockpile of roughly 1900 tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium, and discusses the dangers associated with plutonium separation (reprocessing) and uranium enrichment