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Topic: Fissile material

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	Nuclear Files: Library: Treaties: Non-Proliferation Treaty, Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty Statement, 1999
		Fissile material that has been removed from the military production cycle and is redundant is steadily increasing.
		We should also consider devising arrangements to ensure that this material is in fact used for non-explosive purposes by confirming both the amount of the material intended for such use and the actual area of use.
		The entire field of weapons usable fissile material needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to establish an international norm to define obligations and guide actions for states in dealing with weapons usable fissile material.
	www.nuclearfiles.org /menu/library/treaties/non-proliferation-treaty/prepcom/trty_npt_prepcom_1999_fissile-material-cut-off-treaty-norwegian_1999.htm (1165 words)

	IPFM International Panel on Fissile Materials - Fissile Materials & Nuclear Weapons
		The fission of one kilogram of fissile materials – the approximate amount that fissioned in both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs – releases an energy equivalent to the explosion of about 18 thousand tons (18 kilotons) of chemical high explosive.
		The minimum amount of material needed for a chain reaction to be sustained is defined as the critical mass of the fissile material.
		When the temperature of the fissioning materials inside the pit reaches 100 million degrees, it can ignite the fusion of tritium with deuterium, which produces a burst of neutrons that "boost" the fraction of fissile materials fissioned and thereby the power of the explosion.
	www.fissilematerials.org /ipfm/pages_us_en/fissile/fissile/fissile.php (1920 words)

	The Fissile Material Cut Off treaty: A Futuristic Appraisal - Maria Sultan (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		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.
		Fissile material stocks are usually divided into three categories on the basis of their uses namely: military, transitional, and civil inventories.
	www.cornellcaspian.com /pub/13_0103FMCT.html (7986 words)

	South Africa's Position on the Fissile Material Treaty
		Materials already declared as excess could be included as a starting point ("baseline") at entry into force of the FMT for a given State with nuclear weapons.
		This excess material would be included in a starting inventory of a State upon entry into force of the FMT (without an obligation to declare its "completeness and correctness" from a production point of view) and would be subject to the verification machinery provided for in the treaty.
		Once the nuclear material of weapons origin has passed into the peaceful, safeguarded, domain (together with the associated facilities) this could overburden the existing IAEA safeguards verification regime and adjustments will have to be made to the traditional way in which, for example, safeguards are implemented - e.g.
	www.reachingcriticalwill.org /political/cd/speeches02/safrfissilewpcd.html (3302 words)

	A Comprehensive Transparency Regime for Warheads and Fissile Material
		Fissile materials are the most difficult part of a nuclear weapon to produce, and the size of stockpiles held by the nuclear-weapon states places an upper limit on the number of warheads they could manufacture.
		Finally, in addition to monitoring the elimination of warheads and the disposition of fissile materials, it would be important to have confidence that new warheads or fissile materials are not being produced.
		In the case of fissile materials, this could be done by applying IAEA type safeguards to plutonium-production reactors, reprocessing facilities and uranium-enrichment plants.
	www.publicpolicy.umd.edu /Fetter/1999-ACT-transparency.html (4216 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)

	A Comprehensive Transparency Regime for Warheads and Fissile Material
		Fissile materials are the most difficult part of a nuclear weapon to produce, and the size of stockpiles held by the nuclear-weapon states places an upper limit on the number of warheads they could manufacture.
		Finally, in addition to monitoring the elimination of warheads and the disposition of fissile materials, it would be important to have confidence that new warheads or fissile materials are not being produced.
		In the case of fissile materials, this could be done by applying IAEA type safeguards to plutonium-production reactors, reprocessing facilities and uranium-enrichment plants.
	www.puaf.umd.edu /Fetter/1999-ACT-transparency.html (4216 words)

	Fissile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission.
		All fissile materials are equally capable of sustaining a chain reaction in which either thermal or slow neutrons or fast neutrons predominate.
		"Fissile" is defined to be materials that are fissionable by neutrons with zero kinetic energy.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Fissile_material (313 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)

	Fissile material: Stockpiles still growing \| thebulletin.org (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Although some fissile material is disposed of, more material is produced, causing the total to grow each year.
		The stocks of plutonium and HEU are roughly equal, as are stocks of civil and military fissile material.
		Pakistan's fissile material stockpile has always been difficult to assess, but its stock now appears to be large enough to rival that of India.
	www.thebulletin.org /article.php?art_ofn=nd04albright_016 (1260 words)

	Nuclear Terrorism - FAQs (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Fissile material is the essential ingredient required to produce the self-sustaining chain reaction that causes a nuclear explosion.
		Nuclear material with much lower concentrations can be used in nuclear weapons, however -- and is sometimes referred to as "weapons-usable." At uranium concentrations less than 20 percent, producing an explosive chain reaction is almost impossible.
		It would take several years to secure the world's supply of fissile material if it was made as high a priority as the war on terrorism.
	www.nuclearterrorism.org /faq.html (2582 words)

	Nuclear Terrorism - FAQs (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Fissile material is the essential ingredient required to produce the self-sustaining chain reaction that causes a nuclear explosion.
		Nuclear material with much lower concentrations can be used in nuclear weapons, however -- and is sometimes referred to as "weapons-usable." At uranium concentrations less than 20 percent, producing an explosive chain reaction is almost impossible.
		It would take several years to secure the world's supply of fissile material if it was made as high a priority as the war on terrorism.
	www.nuclearterror.org /faq.html (2582 words)

	Fissile Material: Fears and Compulsions
		The idea of a ban on the production of fissile materials for weapons (sometimes also called a ‘cut-off’) is almost as old as the weapons themselves, and came up repeatedly in discussions from 1945 onwards.
		By limiting the fissile material available for replacing or producing nuclear warheads, such a treaty would severely constrain the declared and de facto nuclear arsenals, and could contribute significantly to nuclear disarmament.
		A ban on the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons will, therefore, be effective only if it puts under international safeguards the military plutonium and highly-enriched uranium already produced as well as banning all future production of these materials.
	defencejournal.com /jan99/fissile.htm (3331 words)

	TEXT URGING NEGOTIATIONS ON FISSILE MATERIAL TREATY APPROVED BY DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE
		The General Assembly would urge the Conference on Disarmament to agree on a programme of work that included the immediate commencement of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty, according to one of threedrafts approved this morning by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).
		Explaining her negative vote on the fissile material cut-off treaty draft, the representative of the
		Expected to be acted on under cluster 1, which concerns nuclear weapons, is a draft on the Conference on Disarmament decision to establish an ad hoc committee to negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty.
	www.un.org /News/Press/docs/2004/gadis3291.doc.htm (2267 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)

	NTI: Securing the Bomb: Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty
		Lack of progress toward a fissile cutoff treaty. After some eight years of inactivity, it is time to question whether the consensus-based Conference on Disarmament is capable of moving forward and negotiating a fissile cutoff.
		Recommendation: Similarly, states that support a fissile cutoff should work intensively with China to convince China to support a cutoff without linkages to other issues, and with Russia to convince Russia to drop its suggestion that reprocessing plants processing reactor-grade plutonium be exempted from cutoff requirements.
		This is the official statement outlining the Bush administration's new approach. The State Department later released a short statement on "Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty Policy," elaborating on the U.S. concerns.
	www.nti.org /e_research/cnwm/ending/fmct.asp (1820 words)

	Institute for Defense&Disarmament Studies
		Fissile (also called fissionable) nuclei may be split by neutrons of low energy (not accelerated to high speeds).
		Still others were of the view that consideration should not only relate to production of fissile material (past or future) but also to other issues, such as the management of such material.
		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)

	USA: White Paper on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty -- Conference on Disarmament
		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.
		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.state.gov /t/isn/rls/other/66901.htm (619 words)

	Arms Control Association: Arms Control Today
		Negotiation of a verifiable fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT) was one of the central principles and objectives that helped achieve the indefinite extension of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference, and it was again endorsed by states-parties at the 2000 NPT Review Conference.
		They would also pledge not to use any fissile material that is subject to verification under an FMCT for nuclear weapons, that is, the principle of irreversibility would apply and subject material could not be withdrawn for weapons use.
		Non-nuclear-weapon states are already committed not to produce or use nuclear material for weapons purposes and to accept IAEA safeguards on all their nuclear material and activities to verify this commitment (comprehensive safeguards).
	www.armscontrol.org /act/2005_01-02/Carlson.asp (3768 words)

	Differentiating FMCT and INFCIRC/153 Mandates - New Directions for Fissile Material Cutoff
		However, it is logical that not all material would necessarily fall under the safeguards agreements applied under the authority of the FMCT, since the mandate of the FMCT is to cover material destined for weapons or explosive use.
		The problem with applying definitions here is that, to be inclusive of FMCT materials and facilities, non-weapons materials and facilities may have to be included, given the nature of the nuclear fuel cycle.
		This is significant in that the objective of prohibiting all fissile materials capable of use in nuclear weapons casts a wider definition of the material involved.
	www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca /foreign_policy/arms/fissile/section07-en.asp (5516 words)

	EPA: Federal Register: Global Nuclear Fuel--Americas, LLC, Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant ...
		Accordingly, NRC is considering issuing an exemption to GNF from fissile material classification and from the fissile material packaging requirements of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59, together with conditions that would be placed in the license to govern this one-time shipment of approximately 800 containers of legacy materials.
		The possibility of a criticality accident due to transportation of this material was evaluated during the development of the new rule containing the fissile material classification exemption, the substance of which is to be incorporated into the license as a condition for the one-time shipment planned by GNF.
		Therefore, shipment of these materials as proposed would be consistent with the assessment of environmental impacts and the conclusions in the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes (NRC, 1977).
	www.epa.gov /fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2004/May/Day-21/i11510.htm (2139 words)

	IPFM International Panel on Fissile Materials - Mission (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) was founded in January 2006 and is an independent group of arms-control and nonproliferation experts from both nuclear weapon and non-nuclear weapon states.
		These fissile materials are the key ingredients in nuclear weapons, and their control is critical to nuclear weapons disarmament, to halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to ensuring that terrorists do not acquire nuclear weapons.
		Both military and civilian stocks of fissile materials have to be addressed.
	www.fissilematerials.org (424 words)

	Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty and India:Part I
		There is a view, that since all the weapon states have stopped producing weapon grade fissile material now, as a first step, a treaty legally binding the states producing the fissile materials would be a practical attainable measure.
		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)

	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.
		(a) To separate any fissile material from fission products in irradiated nuclear material; (b) To enrich plutonium-239 in plutonium by any isotopic separation" process; or (c) To enrich uranium-233 or uranium-235 in uranium to an enrichment of 20 percent or greater in those isotopes, separately or in combination, by any isotopic separation process.
		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.
	geneva.usmission.gov /Press2006/0518DraftFMCT.html (928 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.
		Of course, the main issue to be dealt with regarding these two states concerns existing stockpiles of fissile material.
	www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca /foreign_policy/arms/fissile/section05-en.asp (1417 words)

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