The power industry is set to obtain the plutonium at no or very little cost, but it will be responsible for all costs related to transportation, design, and construction of facilities to process and recycle the plutonium to turn it into fuel for the nuclear power industry, a draft memo cited by Reuters showed. The plan to make plutonium available would be a follow-up to an executive order by President Donald Trump from May, which orders the Secretary of Energy to halt the so-called surplus plutonium dilute and dispose program except with respect to the Department of Energy’s legal obligations to the State of South Carolina. “In place of this program, the Secretary of Energy shall establish a program to dispose of surplus plutonium by processing and making it available to industry in a form that can be utilized for the fabrication of fuel for advanced nuclear technologies,” the executive order says.
Author: Tsvetana Paraskova
Published at: 2025-08-25 22:00:00
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