U.S. to resume plutonium 238 production-report

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States plans to produce highly radioactive plutonium 238 for the first time since the Cold War, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The newspaper quoted project managers as saying most, if not all, of the new plutonium was intended for secret missions. The officials would not disclose details, but the newspaper said the plutonium in the past powered espionage devices.

The Times said Timothy Frazier, head of radioisotope power systems at the U.S. Energy Department, vigorously denied in a recent interview any of the classified missions would involve nuclear arms, satellites or weapons in space.

Read entire story here.

[sToNeD_rApToR]

plutonium can be used to create higly efficient but low yield bombs, perfect for bombing small areas within cities or maybe the entire city itself.
go bush.

[DwarfBaby]

plutonium can be used to create higly efficient but low yield bombs, perfect for bombing small areas within cities or maybe the entire city itself.
go bush.

Not really,
Plutonium 238 has very little use in nuclear arms and its main purpose is generation of electric energy and/or heat in components that must be powered for long periods without human interaction, notably satellites. While 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste, is obviously not a good thing, it almost certainly includes both High and Low level waste. To put this in perspective the US produces approximately 700,000 cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste from its 100+ commercial reactors along with 3,000 tons of high level waste per year.

The only obvious criticism would be what kind of military application they intend to use the plutonium for. But you must keep in mind that the US has been and will continue to use plutonium 238 for both military and non-military uses. The generation of new plutonium doesn’t necessarily mean new projects are in the works only that original supply is running low or decaying to the point were is no longer useful.

Chain reactions are feasible with as little as 1 kilo of plutonium 239. Under the right circumstances can produce yields of just under 1 kiloton “perfect for bombing small areas within cities or maybe the entire city itself” like sToNeD_rApToR said. Of which the US still has stock piles of tons of Plutonium 239. This production of 238 would not significantly impact the US nuclear arsenal.

[transduction]

I find it funny that the US complains about North Korea and Iran when they themselves utilize materials that can be used in bombs. Imagine you and your neighbors all have rocket launchers for your own "protection". One day your neighbors tell you to get rid of your rocket launcher, even though they won't get rid of their own, and keep producing more.