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Plutonium: How nuclear power's dream fuel became a nightmare

Join us for a conversation with four experts on plutonium reprocessing. Nuclear weapons need plutonium. Plutonium reprocessed from nuclear waste could be diverted to produce nuclear weapons, and the so-called “impure” plutonium produced by types of reprocessing currently being promoted in Canada could easily be cleansed of its impurities. The federal government is currently supporting a technology to recover plutonium from Canadian spent fuel. The Canadian government's support undermines the global non-proliferation regime constructed over the 50 years since India launched its nuclear weapons program using technology supplied by Canada and the United States.
Frank von Hippel is a senior research physicist and professor of public and international affairs emeritus with Princeton’s Program on Science & Global Security which he co-founded. He is the lead author of Plutonium: How the nuclear industry's dream fuel became a nightmare. Dr. von Hippel and other distinguished nonproliferation experts from the U.S. wrote three letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing concern about the Canadian government's support for a reprocessing project in Canada.
The book's two co-authors will join Professor von Hippel on the panel.
Jungmin Kang, a former chairman of South Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, is now an independent consultant and South Korea’s member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials.
Masafumi Takubo is an independent nuclear policy analyst based in Tokyo. He is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials and manages the nuclear information website Kakujoho [Nuclear Information], established by him in 2004.
Panel moderator M. V. Ramana is Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia.

Feb 28, 2023 07:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)