ChinaView/Xinhua 28.Jun.05:
Plutonium 238 has no central role in nuclear weapons but was regularly used by the United States to make nuclear batteries thatcan work for years or decades to power satellites, planetary probes and spy devices.
The material, however, is hundreds of times more radioactive than plutonium 239 used in nuclear arms and could lead to environmental disasters in case of accidents.
According to the report, the United States stopped made plutonium 238 in the 1980s and instead relies on aging stockpiles or imports from Russia. But by agreement with Russia, Washington cannot use the imported material for military purposes.
With its domestic stockpile running low, Washington now wants to restart production by 2012 and have the first plutonium 238 available by 2013, the report quoted Frazier as saying. But in order to proceed with the plan, the Bush administration still haveto acquire congressional approval.
According to the report, US experts unconnected to the project said the new plutonium would probably power devices for conductingespionage on land and under the sea.
Even if no formal plans now exist to use the plutonium in spacefor military purposes, the material could be used by the US military to power compact spy satellites that would be hard for adversaries to track, evade or destroy, experts said. Enditem
