US to remove plutonium from 1,000 old atom bombs

The excess plutonium will be taken out of retired nuclear weapons in coming decades and turned into mixed-oxide fuel burnable in commercial nuclear reactors providing electricity, Samuel Bodman said during a U.N. nuclear watchdog meeting.

"As the United States continues to reduce the size of its nuclear weapons stockpile, we will be able to dispose of even more nuclear material while increasing energy and national security," he was quoted by Reuters as telling a press briefing.

The step reflected an accord between the United States and Russia in 2000 under which each was to make 34 tonnes of excess plutonium unusable for nuclear weapons, with the possibility of converting it into a proliferation-proof civilian energy source.