The global stockpile, continued production and use of plutonium and highly enriched uranium – the fissile materials that are the essential ingredients of nuclear weapons – facilitates proliferation, increases the risk of nuclear terrorism and is an obstacle to achieving irreversible nuclear disarmament. The book begins by explaining how these materials are used in nuclear weapons, and describes the histories of fissile material production for weapons starting with the United States and including in historical order the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, North ... More

The global stockpile, continued production and use of plutonium and highly enriched uranium – the fissile materials that are the essential ingredients of nuclear weapons – facilitates proliferation, increases the risk of nuclear terrorism and is an obstacle to achieving irreversible nuclear disarmament. The book begins by explaining how these materials are used in nuclear weapons, and describes the histories of fissile material production for weapons starting with the United States and including in historical order the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and South Africa. It also provides an overview of the current global stockpile of roughly 1900 tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium – together sufficient for more than 100,000 nuclear weapons – by current or intended use in weapons and reactor fuel. The book then discusses the dangers associated with plutonium separation (reprocessing) and uranium enrichment, which put countries a short step away from nuclear weapons, and it offers a basis for policy initiatives to end the separation of plutonium in civilian nuclear power programs, and the use of highly enriched uranium fuel in research reactors and naval reactors. In its final section, the book assesses the technical and policy issues associated with negotiation of a verifiable Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty to end the production of fissile material for weapons and options for the safe and irreversible disposal of current stocks of plutonium and highly enriched uranium.