Nevada officials and congressional delegation Friday announced they have reached a deal with the Department of Energy to remove the plutonium the federal government secretly shipped to Nevada in 2018.
That shipment — revealed in the middle of negotiations with the state over the planned shipment — brought outrage from Nevada’s congressional delegation, the governor and attorney general. It resulted in a lawsuit by the state demanding the plutonium be removed from Nevada.
“This settlement is a significant victory in our state’s efforts to keep the weapons grade material out of our state,” said Sisolak.
He was joined by Attorney General Aaron Ford who said the energy secretary has committed to remove the plutonium next year.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., obtained a commitment from then-Secretary of Energy Rick Perry that formed the basis for this agreement.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., was less generous saying the Trump administration tried to mislead the courts and secretly dump radioactive material in the state.
The Department of Energy promised in the agreement to begin removing the half-ton of plutonium and have it completely removed by the end of 2026.
The DoE also agreed not to ship the additional half-ton it originally planned to ship to Nevada and that the agreement applies to the remaining plutonium stored at the Savannah River site in South Carolina.
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