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Nuclear Proliferation and Terrorism

Photo: NNSA News/Flickr

In the aftermath of the Cold War, nuclear proliferation and terrorism have taken center stage in efforts to protect humanity from the threat of a nuclear catastrophe. And decisions about how to handle and dispose of nuclear reactor fuel are crucial to these efforts.

UCS opposes reprocessing—a method of extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel for reuse—because it opens the door to nuclear proliferation and terrorism. At the same time, reprocessing costs more than current nuclear fuel disposal methods, and fails to deliver on its promise to reduce nuclear waste. We also favor maintaining strict controls on the availability of highly enriched uranium (HEU) for civilian applications, because HEU can be used to make weapons.

Follow the links below to find out more about our positions on nuclear terrorism and proliferation issues and the expert analysis that supports those positions.