Facing the huge power shortage caused by the surge in electricity consumption at data centers, the United States has new ideas.
According to a report by Reuters on the 14th, the Trump administration is progressing discussions with several companies to convert leftover plutonium from the Cold War into new types of nuclear reactor fuel. This initiative aims to provide sufficient energy supply for the rapidly increasing electricity demands in American data centers.
However, this plan, which seems to be aimed at revitalizing existing resources and solving energy problems, faces the risks of significant delays in construction and high security costs. Reports suggest that this plan might not even be implemented at all, due to the extremely dangerous nature of plutonium.
According to reports, a piece of plutonium the size of a grapefruit, if in the hands of criminals, could create a weapon with the same destructive power as the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Nagasaki during World War II. Moreover, the half-life of plutonium is 24,000 years, meaning that even exposure to a small amount of plutonium dust can be deadly.
Rose Matzkin-Brige, who was responsible for global plutonium material security at the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said, 'This is plutonium that can be directly used to manufacture nuclear weapons. I am very concerned that all these potential risks will ultimately have to be paid for by taxpayers.'
Currently, the Trump administration has selected five companies, including Oklo Energy, Exosides Energy, and Shine Technology, to participate in advanced negotiations. The plan is to process 19.7 tons of various types of plutonium materials, including plutonium obtained from dismantling nuclear warheads. These materials will be modified to be suitable for use in civilian nuclear reactors for generating electricity.
According to reports, the issue of plutonium storage has been a headache for the U.S. government for a long time. Now, the United States is eager to revitalize this stock of plutonium, indicating that the nuclear power industry is exploring various innovative approaches to achieve President Trump’s goal of doubling the U.S. nuclear power capacity by 2050 and meeting the growing electricity demands of data centers.
The only physicist in the U.S. Congress, Democratic Representative Bill Foster, remained highly alert upon learning of the proposal. He analyzed that if a compliant and reliable anti-terrorism protection system was to be established for the plutonium fuel processing project, the associated security costs would be outrageously high. All parties involved should carefully assess the economic feasibility of such facilities before proceeding with the project.
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) states that the majority of employees working in the plutonium material handling areas must hold high-level safety permits. A spokesperson for DOE’s Nuclear Energy Office said that relevant companies must submit physical safety and radiation protection plans for the entire process of stabilizing, packaging, transporting, and storing plutonium materials. “The Department of Energy will not bear the costs related to specialized nonproliferation, security, and radiation protection measures required for handling excess plutonium.”
Radioactive plutonium compounds; IC photos
Oklo Energy is one of the companies involved in producing plutonium-based fuel for power generation. The company believes that plutonium can be used as nuclear fuel, at least until the supply chain for highly enriched low-grade uranium (HALEU) is established in the United States. Currently, HALEU is mainly produced by Russia, and its enrichment level is higher than that of the fuel used in current American reactors.
When asked whether taxpayers would have to bear huge costs for this project, Bonita Chester, a spokesperson for Oaklo Energy, responded that using plutonium to manufacture fuel would eliminate the need for another costly and risky option—diluting and permanently disposing of this plutonium material.
According to reports, the Trump administration suspended the plutonium disposal program last year and simultaneously launched this plutonium fuel initiative.
Octave will bear the costs of transportation, supporting fuel processing facility construction and all related approvals for safety, security, and nuclear safeguards. However, she did not disclose the company's estimated overall investment scale.
Exxordis Energy CEO Carl Perez plans to build a factory in the United States, where excess plutonium will be processed into nuclear fuel. He stated that any factory that fails to implement full worker protection measures, overall safety controls, and nuclear material safeguards according to legal standards will not be able to obtain approval from the U.S. government or a license to operate.
Shenzhen Shining Technology's founder and CEO, Greg Pifer, said that the company has mature experience in processing and disposing of nuclear materials. Once plutonium is burned in a reactor to generate electricity, its risks are significantly reduced. "One of the most responsible ways to handle weapons-grade plutonium is to use it in reactors."
The two companies involved in deep consultations did not respond to media inquiries for comment.
In fact, the United States has always attempted to convert plutonium into civilian nuclear fuel, but these efforts have always been plagued by over-budgeting, delays, and failure. In 2000, the United States planned a project to convert excess plutonium into reactor fuel using mixed-oxide fuel (MOX). However, this project continued to experience severe budget overspending and endless delays in its timeline. In 2018, the Trump administration finally terminated the project. By then, the project had already cost $7.6 billion, and additional funding of about $4.8 billion was still needed.
According to reports, Oklo Energy plans to use plutonium in its own developed fast reactors. It is said that such reactors are more efficient than those designed for MOX fuel. According to internal calculations by Oklo, one ton of plutonium used in fast reactor power generation could meet the annual electricity needs of nearly 1 million American households.
Currently, the fast reactors available in the United States are only used for scientific research and have not been put into commercial power generation. Before the Obama administration, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz believed that a plan to dilute and permanently store plutonium was less costly and easier to implement. “I believe that the government will still have to bear substantial costs for this project, including the full range of security measures required for weapons-grade plutonium.”
