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French Firm to Recycle U.S. Military Plutonium
The United States plans to use a French nuclear firm to recycle U.S. military plutonium stockpiles for eventual use in energy production, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, May 10). According to the terms of the contract, reportedly worth between $250 and 300 million, the United States has requested that Areva set up test facilities in France before building a factory in the United States. The company received permission for the project from France and is awaiting approval from nuclear security regulators in that country to build several mixed oxide (MOX) treatment sites in southern France. “This program cocks a snook at history. This plutonium, it was Hiroshima, now it will be used to produce kilowatts,” said Michel Pibarot, chief of the plant in Cadarache. The Bush administration has pushed for converting former nuclear weapon materials into nuclear power plant fuel, according to Agence France-Presse. During the program test period set for the second half of 2004, 140 kilograms of U.S. weapon-grade plutonium is expected to be shipped to France from Charleston, S.C. A gram of plutonium can produce as much energy as 1.5 tons of oil, according to AFP. MOX fuel pellets made from the plutonium would be tested in Duke Power nuclear reactors in the United States, said Areva executive Arthur de Montalembert. Areva eventually plans to build a plant in the United States to convert 34 tons of plutonium into nuclear fuel. Work is set to begin in mid-2005, and the site is expected to begin operating in 2008 (Beatrice Le Bohec, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 13).
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