USSR: PROMOTING PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION BAN BY MEANS OF THREATS (DELETED)

Created: 5/1/1990

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

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USSR: PROMPTINJL PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION BAN BY MEANS OF THREATS

GENERAL STAFF OFFICIAL RECENTLY S DELEGATION THAT, S-SOVIET PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION BAN IS NEGOTIATED, THE SOVIETS MILL BUILD FACILITIES THAT CAN PRODUCE PLUTONIUM BV LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THE SOVIETS HAVE LINKED POSSIBLE US FAILURE 70

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AND ENGINEERING.T YTolisTRUCTTT" CONTRAST, A PLUTONIUM ISOTOPE SEPARATION PLANT USING THE

BEGINNING OF MMM/ CENTRIFUGE, PBQC_ESS PROBABLY COULO BE CONSTRUCTED RELATIVELY RAPIDLY.

610

HE HAVE NO EVIDENCE THAT THE SOVIETS ARE PRODUCING HEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM USING ISOTOPIC ENRICHMENT, THE USSR HAS RECOVERED SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF POTENTIAL SOURCE MATERIAL--REACTOR-GRADE PLUTONIUM FRON REPROCESSED POWER REACTOR FUEL. THIS PLUTONIUM HAS LARGE AMOUNTS OF THE HEAVIER PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES, MAKING IT POORLY SUITED FOR USE IN WEAPONS ALTHOUGH SATISFACTORY FOR ITS INTENDED USE IN THE SOVIET BREEDER REACTOR PROGRAM. ALTHOUGH REACTOR FUEL REPROCESSING BEGAN IN THE LATE , THE SOVIET BREEDER PROGRAM HAS SLOWED ALT SINCE LEAVING A LARGE INVENTORY OF RECOVERED REACTOR-GRADE PLUTONIUM WITH NO APPARENT USE. WE ESTIMATE THAT THE SOVIETS HAVE RECOVERED ABOUT 20 TONS OF REACTOR-GRADE PLUTONIUM, WHICH COULD BE UPGRADED THROUGH LIS OR CENTRIFUGE TECHNIQUES TO YIELD ONS OF WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM, INCREASING THEIR TOTAL WEAPONS-GRADE INVENTORY BY ABOUT 10 PERCENT. SOVIET REPROCESSING CAPACITY COULD PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL 2 TOONS OF REACTOR-GRADE PLUTONIUM PER YEAR, WHICH COULD YIELD TOHS OF WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM PER YEAR.

Original document.

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