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US experts warn plutonium stocks could soar in East Asia

Experts warn that Northeast Asia could see a dangerous growth in stocks of weapons-usable plutonium -- and U.S. lawmakers say Obama administration policies could be making matters worse.

 

Japan plans to open as early as next spring a plant that could reprocess enough spent reactor fuel to make as many as 1,000 nuclear bombs a year. The plutonium that is produced is supposed to be for generating electricity, but Japan already has tons on hand and no use for it, with its reactors at a virtual halt following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster. Local politicians are aggressively backing the plant, eager for investment in a remote northern region.

 

Meanwhile, the U.S. is renewing civil nuclear agreements with China and South Korea on less restrictive terms.

 

For the first time, China has prior consent to extract plutonium from the spent fuel generated in U.S.-designed reactors. The plutonium could potentially be used for nuclear weapons, though the agreement bars the use of American technology for military purposes. South Korea could also get permission to reprocess within six years.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.07.15, 07:42