The Department of Energy announced this week its decision to consolidate surplus, non-pit plutonium at its Savannah River Site in South Carolina, greatly reducing storage costs and significantly enhancing security across the nation’s weapons complex.
The surplus plutonium to be consolidated at SRS will come from the Hanford Site in Washington; the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California; and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Some 2,300 plutonium storage containers from Hanford and close to 700 from Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs will be moved by secure transport to SRS. The surplus material to be consolidated is “non-pit” plutonium, which comes from sources other than nuclear weapons triggers, or pits.
DOE’s decision will reduce the number of sites with special nuclear material, enhancing the security of these materials and reducing the costs associated with plutonium storage, surveillance and monitoring, and security at multiple sites. By transferring the material to one location, the department expects to increase security while avoiding significant costs at all three sites.
To read the news release, click here.
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