From the Independent

Obama wants 40% reduction in nuclear arsenal

Associated Press
Wednesday, 14 July 2010


A US government document revealed that the Obama administration is planning to cut the US nuclear stockpile by up to 40% by 2021.

The Department of Energy document provides details of the reductions that President Barack Obama called for on a path to eliminating nuclear weapons.

The reductions continue a trajectory of cuts that already reduced US stockpiles by about 75% since 1989.

In May the administration said it had 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile.

The new document said the administration would like to reduce that number to a range of 3,000 to 3,500.

The document was presented to Congress in May and posted yesterday on the websites of the Federation of American Scientists and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Excellent. This will offer some additional fuel for the U.S. fleet of nuclear power stations.

Yep.

That being said, Francois, if I can abuse your expertise a bit, how is it to transform nukes into nuclear fuel? I think i read something about it somewhere but i can't remember the conclusion...

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The fuel needs to be downgraded. Fuel for nuclear bombs is enriched to about 80-90%. Fuel for nuclear reactors is enriched to only about 3-5%. Thus, you need to mix nuclear bomb fuel with regular uranium, until the percentage of plutonium is sufficiently reduced to give you a sustainable reaction that doesn't run away.

Surprised to see this popping up again so soon after the painful experience that was New Start. Guy's a glutton for punishment...

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