About 20 kilograms of plutonium were transported from Switzerland to the United States during the first two months of the year, according to a press release from the Swiss government.
The press release, translated into English, does not state whether the material was sent to the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.; however, the U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) suggests the material has been sent to SRS from temporary storage. The press release says the plutonium is of Swiss origin and comes from decades-old reprocessed fuel rods. Under the GTRI, a 12-year-old program to secure dangerous nuclear and radiological materials worldwide, Switzerland was given an opportunity to transfer the material out of the country and to the U.S., according to the press release.
The plutonium was stored for decades, dating to the 1960s, at what is now the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen. The material was stored in vaults that met the necessary national and international security measures, including inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to the press release.
As of Wednesday, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would neither confirm nor deny whether SRS has received plutonium from Switzerland. In December, the agency reiterated its plans to bring about 900 kilograms of plutonium to SRS. The plutonium is expected to come from countries in Asia and Europe, and nearly 40 kilograms of plutonium from Sweden, Italy, and Belgium have already been removed and stored at the site under GTRI.
NNSA spokeswoman Francie Israeli said in December the agency first wants to find a way to get the plutonium away from harmful people without bringing it to the United States. However, the U.S. will assume ownership “if we can find no other reasonable pathway to address U.S. national security interests,” she said by email.
