According to data obtained by the Financial Times (FT), the Ministry of Energy released a form on the 21st for nuclear energy companies to apply for up to 19 tons of weapons-grade plutonium from the government extracted from nuclear warheads during the Cold War.
Companies applying for this must submit details of recycling and manufacturing plans and safety procedures for fuels made from radioactive materials.
If selected as a company eligible for plutonium, it could help the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) obtain permission to operate nuclear power plants faster.
At least two companies are expected to apply for access to government plutonium, including “Oklo,” supported by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, and France’s Nucleo.
This is one of the first attempts by the Donald Trump administration to boost the nuclear industry amid growing demand for electricity in decades due to increased data centers needed to train and operate artificial intelligence (AI) models.
Fuel bottlenecks remain a major constraint to the growth of the nuclear industry in the United States, where annual uranium is produced less than 1 ton. For small modular reactors (SMRs) capable of supplying up to 300 megawatts of power, Haleu, a uranium fuel controlled by Russia, is required. However, the Joe Biden administration banned imports of Russian uranium products last year.
However, it is pointed out that opening plutonium to the private sector will make it vulnerable to theft. Edwin Lyman, a physicist at the Participating Scientists’ Meeting, a group of citizens and scientists to solve environmental problems, predicted that “without a commitment to protect like a nuclear weapon, this material will be more vulnerable to the risk of theft.”
“If there is a responsible entity such as an adult and the federal government applies appropriate standards, it will not be a big problem, but it does not seem realistically possible,” he pointed out.
Cost issues can also be raised. Attempts to use plutonium for private purposes were canceled in 2018 due to a surge in fuel conversion costs.
Given that nuclear waste management is the power of Congress, whether President Trump has the legal authority to transfer plutonium is also expected to be an issue.
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
