Word: plutonium
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...separate even a small amount of the isotope from the more common, nonfissionable uranium 238. Most of today's so-called light-water reactors run on a mix of only 3% U-235, which is far below the enrichment level needed by weapons makers. In the future, plutonium, which is far more efficient-and lethal-will largely replace U-235 as reactor fuel...
Easy Hijacking. The first man-made element ever to be manufactured in a quantity large enough to be seen with the naked eye, plutonium was used in the more devastating A-bomb dropped on Nagasaki. It is also a natural byproduct of the 20th century alchemy that occurs inside all nuclear reactors using uranium. But plutonium is difficult (and thus expensive) to handle; it is so toxic that the inhalation of only a few specks of dust is sufficient to cause cancer...
Until recently, there has been little peaceful use for plutonium, and most of the small amounts produced by utility companies has been either stockpiled or used for research. But as methods for using this material are perfected, plutonium will become an increasingly common reactor fuel. As a result, traffic in the stuff will swell. It will be shipped from processing plants to fabricating plants (where it is made into fuel rods that are unusable for weapons), to nuclear installations, and then back again for reprocessing. In addition, the AEC's highly touted "breeders," a new generation of reactors that...
...relatively easy even though shipments are accompanied by armed guards. The AEC is tightening its security measures against theft, but some weapons-grade material is lost during processing and merely written off as MUF (materials unaccounted for). If an employee-conspirator decided to accumulate a critical amount of plutonium by helping himself to a little MUF at a time, the loss might never be detected. Weapons-grade material could also be taken by force in a direct assault on a storage, fabrication or reprocessing plant. Though protected by fences, electronic devices and armed guards, the plants are still far from...
WASTES. After the nuclear fuel is used, the remaining liquid wastes are not only radioactive but long-lived. Indeed, radioisotopes of plutonium 239 will remain lethal for at least 250,000 years. The AEC is sure that it can handle the problem by solidifying the wastes (so that they cannot enter the environment) and then keeping them under surveillance until a safe storage technique is developed. But, says Physicist Henry Kendall, "the legacy to future generations very much disturbs...