Technical analysis of Russia's suspension of plutonium management and disposal agreement (PMDA)

On October 31, 2016, Putin decided to suspend the Plutonium Management and Disposal Agreement (PMDA) signed by the United States and Russia in 2000. As the United States' MOX facility construction facing seriously overdue funding, delayed progress and other issues, the Department of Energy decided to terminate the construction of the facility and pursued the dilute-and-dispose method as an alternative. Russia already has the ability to use weapons-grade plutonium to manufacture MOX fuel in 2018. Russia believes that the United States' modified program did not achieve the ultimate goal of the destroying weapons-grade plutonium and decided to suspend the agreement based on the current US-Russian relations. (author)