Publication

This factsheet explains why safeguards that operate at nuclear power plants such as Sellafield in the UK cannot guarantee that all of the weapons-usable plutonium is secure from theft or diversion. Furthermore, a decision by the British government to build a new round of nuclear power plants would lead to the development of Generation III and IV reactors that use mixed oxide fuel (MOX) and plutonium respectively. The author argues that in the current international security environment, it is unwise to increase the availability of these materials.