Canada to Try Burning Russian Plutonium Once Used for Bombs

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Canada to Try Burning Russian Plutonium Once Used for Bombs
  
Ottawa, July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Canada says it will import and burn 
a small amount of Russian weapons-grade plutonium, making it the 
first country to try turning the main agent of nuclear bombs into 
electricity. 

The Russian plutonium, diluted with uranium to form a product 
called mixed-oxide fuel, or MOX, will be burned at Atomic Energy 
of Canada Ltd.'s Chalk River laboratory in eastern Ontario. The 
government-owned maker of Candu reactors will burn the Russian 
MOX together with a shipment of U.S. MOX that was delivered from 
Los Alamos, New Mexico last January. 

Both Russia and the U.S. have agreed to get rid of 34 metric tons 
of weapons-grade plutonium left from the disabling of their nuclear 
warheads. The Canadian test will determine whether that 
plutonium, as MOX, can be used to create nuclear power -- rather 
than simply burying it. 

``There is no commercial requirement here to search out new fuel,'' 
said Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale. Canada is taking 
the fuel, he said, to ''make the world a safer place.'' 

Environmentalists, who protested the U.S. shipment in January, 
said importing plutonium is a bad idea. They said it puts 
communities on the way to Chalk River at unnecessary risk. Also, 
if successful tests lead to a global MOX trade, terrorists would have 
easier access to weapons-grade plutonium. 

``Canadians should be consulted on whether we want to get into 
this business'' said Kristen Ostling, of the Ottawa-based Campaign 
for Nuclear Phaseout, a group that wants nuclear technology 
eliminated. ``This will increase the circulation of plutonium. It's the 
worst thing we can do for world peace.'' 

Goodale said there is no ``significant'' safety risk. The uranium and 
plutonium are turned to powder to create ceramic pellets. 

The government said the pellets don't burn, don't explode, aren't 
soluble in water, and have a radiation field so weak that it can be 
blocked by a piece of paper. 

Canada plans to receive the MOX by the end of the summer. 
Emergency procedures still need the approval of regulators from 
Canada's Transportation Department, with a mandatory public- 
consultation period. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
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