The Nation - News from May 19, 1989

Ninety-eight members of Congress introduced legislation to block the operation of any U.S. plant producing plutonium and highly enriched uranium if the Soviet Union shuts down its plants producing the key ingredients of nuclear weapons. The International Plutonium Control Act is aimed at inducing such a Soviet shutdown and forcing the Bush Administration to begin negotiations. U.S. production of plutonium ceased last August, when the Department of Energy turned off the last of four key reactors at the Savannah River plant in South Carolina for repairs and safety modifications. Early next year, the reactors are scheduled to resume production of tritium, a nuclear weapon ingredient that would not be covered by the bill, and eventually will produce plutonium, as will a new factory in Idaho Falls, Ida. Experts say U.S. and Soviet plutonium supplies are sufficient to last several decades if the superpowers reach an agreement constraining their arsenals.