From: "Tanj" 

I would expect the plutonium may be purified but not necessarily shipped in
that form.  First you want to separate impurities including unstable
elements with other uses or which simply make the material hard to use. 
But since reactors do not want to go critical it would make sense to then
cut it in ways which leave it predictable and easier to handle but not much
use for a bomb.  The excerpts below leave it ambiguous as to what form the
fuel is. And running the result through reactors does indeed consume it so
eventually you have less to worry about.

Over the next 20 years I expect there are going to be problems much more
terrifying than a couple of hacked up plutonium bombs, unfortunately.

- Tanj

"Randall Parker"  wrote in message
news:MPG.13c99d95abada86498a857{at}news.barkto.com...
> Just another short-sighted move by fools because it sounds good at first
> glance:
>
http://www.stratfor.com/SERVICES/giu2000/060900.ASP
>    Excerpts:
> The Moscow summit failed to make any big breakthroughs on arms control
> but purported to make a small breakthrough when the Russian and American
> presidents agreed to destroy 34 metric tons of plutonium. On the face of
> it, the U.S.-Russian agreement would seem to help the cause of
> disarmament. But over the long term, it will achieve just the opposite.
>    ....
> But developing a global civilian energy infrastructure with a long-term
> need for plutonium-based fuel has a strategic cost. In order to transform
> waste plutonium into MOX, it must first be purified. This purified
> plutonium can be used for nuclear weapons.
> To counter this concern, the United States insists it will decommission
> all parts of its new plutonium industry once the weapons-grade plutonium
> is destroyed, thus ending the proliferation threat. But Russia has made
> it clear it intends to continue using plutonium for fuel. So have other
> countries. Japan plans to have one-third of its 53 reactors using MOX by
> 2010. There are already 30 reactors in Europe licensed to use the
> plutonium-based fuel. All are simply waiting for a steady supply. The
> Clinton-Putin deal will build the processing centers - several in Russia
> - necessary to ensure that supply.
> Almost all of the MOX reactors would be outside the United States and
> thus beyond American control.

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