Quick and Secret Construction of Plutonium Reprocessing Plants: A Way to Nuclear Weapons Proliferation?

There has been much concern that nations with commercial nuclear powerplants but not possessing nuclear weapons might attempt to divert the plutonium contained in the spent fuel discharged from their power plants to make nuclear weapons. Concerns were increased by an Oak Ridge National Laboratory memorandum dated August 30, 1977, which provided a conceptual design for a simple and quick plant for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.