Story perspectives

DOE Picks Five Firms for Plutonium Fuel, Sparks Proliferation Fears

5/30/2026

Summary

Story summary

The U.S. Department of Energy selected five companies for negotiations to use weapons-grade plutonium as reactor fuel.
Security analysts and Professor Daniel Speyer warned that the conversion could raise proliferation risks and let small firms build atomic bombs.
Senator Edward Markey and two Democratic representatives sent a letter to President Donald Trump citing threats, while a U.S. effort to recycle plutonium was cancelled in 2018 after costs rose.

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Story summary

The U.S. Department of Energy selected five companies for negotiations to use weapons-grade plutonium as reactor fuel.
Security analysts and Professor Daniel Speyer warned that the conversion could raise proliferation risks and let small firms build atomic bombs.
Senator Edward Markey and two Democratic representatives sent a letter to President Donald Trump citing threats, while a U.S. effort to recycle plutonium was cancelled in 2018 after costs rose.