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Topic: Fissile

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	NTI: Securing the Bomb: Mayak Fissile Materials Storage Facility
		Years of delays resulted from disagreements over (and changes in) the facility design, who would bear which shares of the costs, and the like; the 2003 commissioning was fully a decade after the U.S.-Russian implementing agreement that launched the effort (signed in September, 1993).
		Originally, the facility was planned to have two modules, for a total of 50,000 containers, and indeed, a second facility of equal size was to have been built at another site, to accommodate all the excess fissile material from dismantled Russian weapons.
		If the Mayak fissile material storage facility is to fulfill its goals, it must not only be built but loaded with nuclear weapons material, and operated securely and safely for many years.
	www.nti.org /e_research/cnwm/securing/mayak.asp (1747 words)

	The Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty
		The G-21 believes that the proposed treaty dealing with fissile material must constitute a nuclear disarmament measure, and not only a nuclear non-proliferation measure, and be an integral step leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
		The vast majority of the CD;s membership continues to adhere to the long-standing consensus that the FMT must address the issue of stockpiles of fissile material possessed by some States and, through their progressive and balanced reduction, to promote the goal of nuclear disarmament.
		The existence of unequal stockpiles of fissile material in South Asia was always an issue of central importance since it threatened to destabilise the situation of "existential" or "non-weaponised" deterrence between India and Pakistan.
	www.acronym.org.uk /fmctdesc.htm (1886 words)

	Nuclear Terrorism - FAQs (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
		Fissile material is matter that can sustain a fission chain reaction.
		Fissile material is the essential ingredient required to produce the self-sustaining chain reaction that causes a nuclear explosion.
		Making fissile material is expensive and time-consuming, requiring roughly one billion dollars and a decade of intensive effort.
	www.nuclearterror.org /faq.html (2582 words)

	The Fissile Material Cut Off treaty: A Futuristic Appraisal - Maria Sultan
		The significance of the definition of the fissile material lies in the fact that this is to determine the loopholes, which otherwise can give rise to evasion of the verification mechanisms, especially for the countries which want to limit the effect of the treaty on their ongoing nuclear programmes.
		If these and other types of fissile material having a nuclear capacity are not included in the definition it means that the treaty would not cover the nuclear fuel cycles for these materials, thereby creating a loophole for countries with diverse and advance nuclear programs.
		A freeze at the current level of fissile material production, without any corresponding systematic reduction of available nuclear fissile material, is to deliberately cause a dichotomy in the non-proliferation efforts and deterrence needs, rather than in strengthening it, for it aims at freezing the status quo embedded with loopholes for all times to come.
	www.cornellcaspian.com /pub/13_0103FMCT.html (7986 words)

	frontline: loose nukes: Avoiding Nuclear Anarchy \| PBS
		It is the difficulty of obtaining fissile material that provides one of the major defenses protecting the international community from a major surge in nuclear proliferation.
		Fissile materials and their means of production will continue to be difficult to obtain if excess fissile materials do not leak from Russia.
		Nuclear reactors cause sustained chain reactions by assembling a mass of fissile material whose criticality is dependent on the presence of a moderator like graphite or water that slows neutrons down, thereby exploiting the high fission cross-sections of fissile materials in the presence of low energy, or thermal, neutrons.
	www.pbs.org /wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nukes/readings/appendixb.html (10364 words)

	IEER: Fissile Material Basics
		Fissile materials are composed of atoms that can be split by neutrons in a self-sustaining chain-reaction to release enormous amounts of energy.
		The most important fissile materials for nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are an isotope of plutonium, plutonium-239, and an isotope of uranium, uranium-235.
		The other important fissile material that has been used for nuclear weapons is highly enriched uranium (HEU), usually defined as uranium whose proportion of uranium-235, the fissile isotope of uranium, has been increased to over 90%.
	www.ieer.org /fctsheet/fm_basic.html (866 words)

	IEER Publications: Fissile Materials in a Glass, Darkly
		Certain fissile materials, such as natural uranium and low enriched uranium, cannot be used to make nuclear weapons since they cannot be assembled into supercritical masses in which the chain reaction grows so rapidly that there is a large and very sudden energy release -- that is, there is an explosion.
		Practically speaking, there are only three weapons-usable fissile materials, plutonium, highly enriched uranium (made from natural uranium), and uranium-233, which does not occur in nature, whose man-made stocks are very small relative to plutonium and HEU, and which has not been used in nuclear weapons, so far as public data indicate.
		The present global predicament with respect to weapons-usable fissile materials, whose half-lives are far greater than the longevity of human institutions, has arisen in large measure because governments and their nuclear establishments did not even consider the question of what future generations might do with these materials, if society did not want them.
	www.ieer.org /pubs/fissmats.html (1786 words)

	FISSILE PANEL
		It is evident that a fissile cut-off treaty is needed to end the possibility of increasing the stockpile of nuclear weapons materials of the declared nuclear weapon states and the three threshold states.
		I believe that actions irreversibly drawing down the stockpiles of fissile material in the hands of all the weapon states will be more feasible in the context of a step-by-step disarmament plan that assures the security of the weapon states than in the context of a fissile cut-off treaty.
		On the other side, if one insists that there is no connection between the fissile cut-off and reduction negotiations, one ignores the fact that a large part of the rationale for fissile cut-off is to provide a verifiable basis for nuclear reductions.
	disarm.igc.org /T261095fisslematerial.htm (15039 words)

	Ending the Production of Fissile Material for Nuclear Weapons -- Section IV
		Therefore, a cessation in the production of fissile material must be accompanied by a mandatory program for the elimination of asymmetries of fissile material stockpiles held by various states.
		Such transfers of fissile material for peaceful purposes should be made first by those states with the largest stockpiles, in the global and regional contexts.
		This proposal holds that "every gram of fissile material ever produced must be accounted for, classified, and placed under strict international supervision." All facilities involved in the production or storage of fissile material must be placed under the established monitoring and verification regime.
	www.isis-online.org /publications/fmct/primer/Section_IV.html (1391 words)

	fissile - Search Results - MSN Encarta
		Much experimentation was necessary to make the production of fissile material practical.
		The fissile isotope uranium-235 accounts for only 0.7 percent of natural uranium; the remainder is composed of the heavier uranium-238.
		Slate, dense, fine-grained, fissile rock, formed by the metamorphism of shale or clay, or more rarely of igneous rocks.
	encarta.msn.com /fissile.html (88 words)

	Background to the FMCT - New Directions for Fissile Material Cutoff
		Though not a matter included within the scope of a FMCT, stockpiles of fissile material possessed by member states should be reduced and/or placed under IAEA safeguards.
		Trudeau's focus here was on the weapons states, especially relating to the manner in which possessing states would reduce their holdings of strategic fissile material.
		India is in agreement with the NWS that stocks ought not to be included, whereas Pakistan, with significantly lower levels of stocks, argues that existing stocks must be included as a means of regional and international redress.
	www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca /foreign_policy/arms/fissile/section05-en.asp (1417 words)

	Institute for Defense&Disarmament Studies
		Fissile (also called fissionable) nuclei may be split by neutrons of low energy (not accelerated to high speeds).
		With funding from the USA and Russia, construction of a storage facility for fissile material was completed at the Mayak Chemical Plant in 2003 {ACR 612e1FIS03 16.12}.
		Egypt had argued for a fissban with a broad scope, covering all fissile materials potentially usable in the manufacturing of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices across the world, including the military stocks possessed by all states on an equal footing.
	www.idds.org /issNucTreatiesFissile.html (8081 words)

	FMCT
		A Fissile Material Treaty will require many technical issues to be resolved, from actually defining fissile material to ensuring that the treaty is effective by developing specific procedures for verification.
		How fissile material is defined is important as it has direct implications on the scope of the treaty.
		The time to ban fissile material is at hand and the momentum generated in the CD during may must no be squandered.
	www.reachingcriticalwill.org /legal/fmct.html (3323 words)

	May 18, 2006: Draft Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty Sumbitted by United States to the CD
		On May 18, 2006, the United States tabled a new draft Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) at the Conference on Disarmament and circulated a draft mandate to establish an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate the treaty.
		The term "produce fissile material" does not include activities involving fissile material produced prior to entry into force of the Treaty, provided that such activities do not increase the total quantity of plutonium, uranium-233, or uranium-235 in such fissile material.
		For the purposes of this Treaty, no Party shall be precluded trom using information obtained by national means and methods in a manner consistent with generally recognized principles of intemational law, including that of respect for the sovereignty of States.
	geneva.usmission.gov /Press2006/0518DraftFMCT.html (928 words)

	USA: White Paper on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty -- Conference on Disarmament
		The United States believes strongly that achieving a legally binding ban on the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons is a desirable goal.
		The basic obligation under such a treaty, effective at entry into force, would be a ban the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
		The production of fissile material for nonexplosive purposes, such as fuel for naval propulsion, also would be unaffected by the treaty.
	www.state.gov /t/isn/rls/other/66901.htm (619 words)

	Negotiating a fissile-material cut-off treaty
		This ban is crucial to the effort to prevent fissile material from reaching new countries and, even more importantly, terrorist groups.
		Islamabad is likely to resist negotiating an accord until it is satisfied that it has produced enough fissile material to achieve approximate parity with India, or that this asymmetry has been addressed in some other way.
		Above all, the US is determined that verification should be carried out by actual inspectors on the ground, and not by 'non-intrusive' means like satellite and aerial observation, which Washington fears, with good reason, would be very ineffective.
	www.defencejournal.com /dec98/fissile.htm (1645 words)

	Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty and India:Part I
		The test for FMCT should be whether the treaty would contribute towards the ultimate objective of a non discriminatory, non proliferation regime and universal disarmament or whether it would perpetuate the existing disparity between the nuclear and non nuclear weapon states and among the nuclear states themselves.
		To negotiate a comprehensive treaty, many contentious issues like the disposal of the surplus fissile material removed from the weapons, safety and safeguards for such material and also of the stocks already left with the weapon powers will have to be discussed and consensus arrived at.
		Retention of fissile material stocks up to the signing of the treaty on fissile material would be an indirect admission into the nuclear weapons club.
	www.saag.org /papers/paper14.html (1760 words)

	Ford Foundation: Nuclear Power Issues and Choices - 391
		Uranium-235 is the only fissile nucleus which appears in nature in quantities large enough to use as a starting point for nuclear power.
		A fissile isotope may also capture a neutron without fissioning; in nuclear power production this is undesirable since it simultaneously removes a neutron which could otherwise be causing a fission and a fissile nucleus which could otherwise be fissioned.
		The fuel may consist of natural uranium containing 0.7 percent fissile uranium-235 and 99.3 percent nonfissile uranium-238, or "enriched" uranium (which has been enhanced in its concentration of uranium-235), or uranium-233 (produced earlier by conversion of thorium-232), or plutonium-239 (produced earlier by conversion of uranium-238), or some combination of these.
	www.fordfound.org /elibrary/documents/0335/395.cfm (840 words)

	U.S. White Paper on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (May -2006)
		Stocks of already existing fissile material would be unaffected by the FMCT.
		Such mechanisms and provisions could provide a false sense of security, encouraging countries to assume that, because such mechanisms and provisions existed, there would be no need for governments themselves - individually or collectively - to be wary and vigilant against possible violations.
		Negotiating an international ban on the future production of fissile material for nuclear weapons will be a difficult enough task, in and of itself.
	www.us-mission.ch /Press2006/0518WhitePaper.html (544 words)

	Active Interrogation: Glossary (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
		Primary fission fragments are neutron rich and de-excite by negatron beta decay.
		fissile Describes a material that releases energy by the nuclear fission process when it absorbs thermal or slow-moving neutrons; such materials have a high concentration of fissile nuclides; the principal fissile nuclides are U-233, U-235, and Pu-239.
		Fissile material is an essential ingredient in nuclear explosives.
	www.llnl.gov /cargoscan/glossary.html (914 words)

	Control of Fissile Materials
		The use of fissile materials has been used in many ways such as weapons, warheads and fuel for power stations.
		many fissile materials are still not under control of responsible parties.
		Fissile materials are being sold off to countries that want to start their own nuclear arsenals.
	www.uni.edu /ihsmun/archive/sc2001/Fissile.htm (246 words)

	lowercase liberty
		It's about the word 'fissile' which I encountered for the first time tonight in an article from The Guardian: "Why are we crucifying Mel Gibson?":
		Ah, but this is one of those words that shows the weakness of a hundred-year-old dictionary, because 'fissile' took on a very different meaning after the discovery/invention of nuclear fission:
		Even with the advent of atomic bombs, "fissile brew" is still an atrocious mixed metaphor.
	www.bkmarcus.com /blog/2006/08/fissile.html (398 words)

	Arms Control Association: Arms Control Today: U.S. Unveils Draft Fissile Material Treaty
		In the two days preceding Rademaker’s speech, both countries reaffirmed their demand for a “balanced program.” Similarly, the Group of 21 developing countries holds that nuclear disarmament is its highest priority.
		Several countries assert that a treaty on fissile materials should not only end future production for weapons but also prevent existing stockpiles from being used to build new weapons.
		First enunciated in July 2004 (see "Bush Shifts Fissile Material Ban Policy" Sept. 2004), this U.S. stance broke with long-standing U.S. support for FMCT verification, as well as the CD’s 1995 decision to negotiate an “effectively verifiable” agreement.
	www.armscontrol.org /act/2006_06/FissileTreaty.asp (1137 words)

	Fissile Materials Basics
		Because there is no effective protection against nuclear terrorism, the only solution is to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear weapons, and the fissile materials needed to make them, in the first place.
		These fissile materials are used for a variety of civil and military purposes, as shown in the table below.
		The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Preventing Nuclear Terrorism Project seeks to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons and the fissile materials—plutonium or highly enriched uranium (HEU)—needed to make them. This fact sheet series covers specific problems relating to nuclear terrorism and the steps the United States and other countries should take to address them.
	www.ucsusa.org /global_security/nuclear_terrorism/fissile-materials-basics.html (1051 words)

	US Proposed Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty: At what cost?
		Fissile material generally is any material capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.
		For that reason fissile material is considered a nuclear threat and is tightly controlled.
		At the time of Bush's offer towards India it has been questioned why limiting fissile material was not a conditional part of the package and this treaty might be the result of that debate.
	www.freenewmexican.com /readerblogs/43861.html (1456 words)

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