Plutonium-is any non-zero quantity sustainable?

How a society in the nuclear age views the use of plutonium can be a strong indicator of that society's commitment to sustainability. This is a multi-faceted situation, as there are forceful arguments that nuclear power generation could produce many times more energy from the world's stock of natural uranium than is presently achieved. The approach taken in this paper is to recognise this potential, but also to observe that there is a very long list of detracting features about plutonium. As a consequence of its physical properties, plutonium is at the centre of nearly all of the military applications of nuclear technology. With the recent nuclear weapons reduction agreements between the US and Russia, several hundred tons of separated plutonium have been decreed surplus and must be disposed of or eliminated to prevent diversion to clandestine weapons programs. The US Dept. of Energy has financed an investigation into the use of CANDU reactors to burn up and hence eliminate some of this plutonium. There are many ramifications to this method of reducing the amount of plutonium. This paper discusses some of the physical details of the problems involved as well as implications with respect to the impending renewal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The long-term sustainability prospects are kept in mind, as the radioactive half-life of plutonium is comparable to the period of time over which human communication and language have developed.