The Hindu : International : U.S. to produce deadly isotope

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 30, 2005

International

International

U.S. to produce deadly isotope

Jamie Wilson

WASHINGTON: The U.S. is planning its first production since the cold war of plutonium 238 — one of the most deadly forms of the element — for use in secret missions, possibly including spy satellites and undersea devices.

The isotope, which is so radioactive that a speck can cause cancer, has no central role in nuclear arms. Its steady heat is used to create electricity; nuclear batteries powered by it work for years and even decades, and have been used to power spacecraft that go where sunlight is too dim to produce solar power.

Federal officials told the New York Times the programme would produce a total of 150 kg over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory in Wyoming. The programme could cost $1.5 billion and generate more than 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste. It is likely to face opposition from environmentalists who fear it is a potential threat to the nearby Yellowstone national park. Experts unconnected to the project told the paper that the plutonium would probably power devices for conducting espionage and devices used to tap undersea communications cables.

Batteries powered by the substance were used during the early 1960s until a series of accidents led to questions about their safety. In 1964 a rocket failure led to the destruction of a navigation satellite powered by plutonium 238, spreading radioactivity around the globe.

Federal experts told the paper that new versions of the batteries were designed to withstand rupture and the chances of an accident were extremely low. Timothy Frazier, a senior official at the U.S. Energy Department, told the newspaper the goal was to start production by 2012. —

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