NNSA Removes More Plutonium From Livermore

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said yesterday that it had shipped more weapon-grade plutonium from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina (see GSN, Sept. 6, 2007).

The agency, a semiautonomous arm of the Energy Department, conducted the shipment as part of its project to consolidate plutonium now contained at sites around the nation.  It first relocated material from Lawrence Livermore late last year and plans to finish removal by 2012, two years earlier than originally planned.

“There is too much nuclear weapons material stored at too many different sites around the country,” NNSA chief Thomas D’Agostino said in a press release.  “Our consolidation efforts will reduce security costs and are an integral part of transforming the U.S. nuclear weapons complex to one that is smaller, safer, more secure and more efficient.”

The nuclear complex transformation plan calls for consolidating nuclear materials at five sites by 2012 (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2007).  The square footage of the facilities is set to be “significantly reduced” by 2017, according to the press release.

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to convert excess plutonium stored at Savannah River into mixed-oxide fuel for nuclear power plants.  Construction of the conversion facility is one-fourth completed (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, Jan. 7).

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