1. NUCLEAR FUEL CYLE AND HUMANITY THREATS
December12, 2016
All nuclear weapons require a primary nuclear explosive. There are only two materials that are used for
that purpose: either Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU, plutonium of any kind (except plutonium-238).
Highly Enriched Uranium refers to any kind of uranium that has a relatively high percentage (20 percent
or more) of uranium-235. Natural uranium -- Uranium that is mined from the Earth anywhere in the world
-- has only 0.7 percent uranium-235 and 99.3 percent uranium-238. Uranium-238 is not usable as a
primary nuclear explosive material. The mix of U-238 and U-235 found in natural uranium is also not
nuclear-weapons-usable, because there isn't enough U-235.
Uranium enrichment is a process of gradually removing more and more U-238 from the mix, thereby
increasing the concentration of U-235, boosting the percentage of U-235 to 3 percent, or 5 percent, or 20
percent, or 90 percent or more.
Any uranium that is over 90 percent U-235 is called "weapons-grade uranium" and is ideal for making
atomic bombs. But in fact any uranium that is over 20 percent U-235 is said to be "highly enriched" HEU
and can, in principle, be used to make a nuclear explosive device.
Plutonium does not exist in nature; it is a uranium derivative that is created inside a nuclear reactor.
Specifically, when a uranium-238 atom absorbs a stray neutron inside the reactor it is transmuted into a
plutonium-239 atom. Further neutron captures produces other, heavier plutonium isotopes: plutonium-
240, -241, -242, et cetera.
All of these reactor-produced plutonium isotopes are usable as a primary nuclear explosive, but the best
of the lot (for weapons purposes) is plutonium-239. Any plutonium that has a very high percentage of
plutonium-239 is called "weapons-grade plutonium". Nevertheless, all reactor-produced plutonium is
perfectly weapons-usable, regardless of the concentration of plutonium-239.
To get the plutonium out of the irradiated nuclear fuel requires "reprocessing" technology. Reprocessing
involves dissolving the solid nuclear fuel assemblies in boiling nitric acid, producing large volumes of
liquid high-level radioactive waste, and then chemically separating the small percentage of plutonium
from the liquid solution. Once the plutonium has been re-solidified it can then be used as a very powerful
nuclear explosive material.
Plutonium 239 is a major safety concern because of its high radiation levels and long half-life—24,100
years. About 200,000 times more radioactive than the commonest naturally occurring uranium, plutonium
239 emits alpha particles as its principal form of radiation. Plutonium inhalation can cause permanent
lung damage and even death. When taken in the body, microscopic amounts can penetrate deep into the
lungs and deposit, via the bloodstream, in the liver, bones, and other organs.
Commercial nuclear power reactors require a nuclear fuel (usually uranium or plutonium) and a substance
called a "moderator" to slow down the neutrons so that the nuclear chain reaction can sustain itself. If
ordinary water is used as a moderator, the uranium fuel has to be enriched to about 3 to 5 percent U-235.
This is called Low Enriched Uranium (LEU).

2. However if "heavy water" is used instead of ordinary "light water", the uranium fuel does not have to
enriched at all. Such a reactor,called a Heavy Water reactor, can run perfectly well on natural uranium. In
this way plutonium can be produced without the need for any uranium enrichment whatsoever. That
plutonium -- when extracted from the nuclear fuel waste by reprocessing technology -- can then be used
as a primary nuclear explosive in nuclear weapons of many different kinds
By eliminating the production of HEU, and foregoing reprocessing technology to extract plutonium,
IAEA can effectively close the door to nuclear weapons of any kind. They cannot produce any material to
be used as a primary nuclear explosive .Nuclear World must be willing to accept far-reaching IAEA
surveillance on all their nuclear facilities, including unannounced inspections by IAEA authorities. By
imposing similar requirements on all nations, we could eliminate the production of nuclear weapons
altogether. Then, when nuclear weapons are dismantled and the primary nuclear explosive materials are
made inaccessible, a nuclear-weapons free world would be within our grasp.
Unfortunately, the countries who are most insistent in pointing an accusatory finger at Pakistan-- the
USA, the UK, Israel, France, and Britain, along with several "silent bystanders" , Russia, India, -- all
have their own stash of nuclear weapons. The message to Pakistan is, "Do as we say, not as we do."
World peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons can never be brought about by means of a hypocritical
double standard. If nuclear weapons are indeed the greatest existential threat to the continued survival of
humanity and other life-forms on this planet, then no one should have them.
. The nuclear powers still maintain more than 15,000 nuclear warheads. Not a small number of them are
on alert for launch. The concern for the outbreak of nuclear war due to deteriorating regional tensions is
real. A recent study shows that even if only a small percentage of existing nuclear weapons are used, it
would cause serious climate change and would bring the human race to the brink of extinction. The
elimination of nuclear weapons is an urgent task for the very survival of the humanity. By international
law and justice, weapons of mass destruction are widely perceived to be illegal. As biological and
chemical weapons have been banned by international treaties, nuclear weapons should be banned
immediately and made illegal
Most of prominent Japanese nuclear scientists have believed the peaceful use of nuclear energy and they
advocated Japan’s government and public people that the nuclear energy is completely safe. With this
belief, Japan built the 54 nuclear power units in the country with frequent earthquakes and a volcanic
chain. Japanese people learned from the reality of Fukushima nuclear accident that many unsolved issues
continue : 400 tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima plant run into the see every day ; no
repository sites have been designated for radiation waste materials ; no scientific solutions regarding
clean-up of the melted reactors for at least 50 years. Those eminent nuclear scientists have disappeared
from the public debate on the scientific solution.
This is to let you know of the Asahi Shimbun Editorial that Fukushima nuclear disaster bill to double to
21.5 trillion yen (about $188 billion. )
This reminds me of the opinion of renown medical doctor, Helen Caldicott –Quote The truth is that most
politicians, businessmen, engineers and nuclear physicists have no innate understanding of radiobiology
and the way radiation induces cancer, congenital malformations and genetic diseases which are passed

3. generation to generation. Nor do they recognize that children are 20 times more radiosensitive than
adults, girls twice as vulnerable as little boys and fetuses much more so. Unquote
A secret Atomic Energy Commission USA document, dated 17 April 1947, reveals that physicians were
aware of these radiation hazards but simply ignored them. Under the title “Medical Experiments in
Humans,” the memorandum read: “It is desired that no document be released which refers to experiments
with humans that might have an adverse effect on public opinion or result in legal suits. Documents
covering such field work should be classified ‘Secret
In the nuclear arms race, government doctors and scientists brainwashed the public into believing low
dose radiation is not harmful. Some officials even tried to convince people that “a little radiation is good
for you.” Totally ignored is the knowledge that the radiation from nuclear fallout could lead to an
increased risk of cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders, immune system disease, reproductive
abnormalities, sterility, birth defects, and genetic mutations which could be passed on from generation to
generation
What are secrets to the nations regarding nuclear material and nuclear developments? Nothing is secret as
all information available in the literature, reports and books published in 1940s regarding nuclear material
and nuclear developments. Unethical and dangerous experimentation undoubtedly continues in secret up
to the present time, ostensibly under the guise of “national security.
AUTHOR IS SCIENTIST AND FORMER ADVISER / TECHNICAL CONSULTANT PAKISTAN
ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION AND MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
(NUCLEAR EMERGENCY ACTION
ALLIANCE) MEMBER (IAC—NEAA)