Key Issues
Preventing the Proliferation of Nuclear Materials
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January 2009
Key Facts
January 2009
Key Facts
- Preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, their components and related technology is a global mission that requires the transparent participation and cooperation of all nations to ensure its success.
- Commercial reactor fuel poses no risk of proliferation; it cannot be used to make a nuclear weapon.
- Enrichment facilities that produce low-enriched uranium fuel for commercial reactors pose no risk of proliferation.
- Plutonium created during a standard commercial fuel cycle in U.S. civilian reactors poses little risk of proliferation. Plutonium is a byproduct of the fission process.
- The Megatons to Megawatts program is a 20-year, $8 billion government/industry partnership that is converting weapons-grade uranium from dismantled Russian and American nuclear warheads into reactor fuel for U.S. nuclear power plants.
