Troubled Disposition: Next Steps in Dealing With Excess Plutonium

Abstract

What should the United States and Russia do with the tons of plutonium they no longer need fornuclear weapons? The two countries have been struggling to answer this question since the end ofthe Cold War. Unfortunately, however, despite the signature in 2000 of the U.S.-Russian PlutoniumManagement and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), projected schedules for getting rid of thesedangerous stockpiles have slipped by more than seven years, and the estimated costs of the efforthave increased dramatically. A pitched battle over the future of plutonium disposition is now beingwaged in Congress.