Recycling plutonium stockpiles: A contribution to non-proliferation

The dismantling of thousands of nuclear warheads in both USA and Russia is one of the most positive consequences of the end of Cold War. The recycling and disenrichment of some 500 tonnes of Russian weapon-grade highly enriched uranium is well underway; its conversion and use in civilian nuclear power industry will make it unavailable for military purposes. However the pace of US purchases of Russian highly enriched uranium could and should be increased, under fully implemented transparency measures. The disposal of surplus weapon-grade plutonium remains a separate problem. Certain possible solutions are proposed for solving this problem