The Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for long-term storage and disposition decisions

This paper describes the process that, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), will be used to formulate recommendations for decisions on the storage and disposition of weapons-usable materials. In the aftermath of the Cold War, significant quantities of weapons-usable nuclear materials have become surplus to national defense needs in both the United States and Russia. In this context, weapons-usable nuclear materials are fissile materials (predominantly plutonium and highly enriched uranium) that have been separated from spent fuel or irradiated targets. These materials were either in the nuclear weapons production process or in weapons that are now being dismantled.