Paris
The U.S. sent weapons-grade nuclear material abroad this week for the first time—to France. The U.S. and Russia agreed in 2000 to try to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation by reprocessing the plutonium from decommissioned, Cold War—era nuclear weapons into reactor fuel. But the U.S. lacks reprocessing technology, so it sold some of the plutonium to France. The French nuclear utility will convert the plutonium into fuel rods for power plants and ship them back to the U.S. Anti-nuclear activists across Europe protested the shipment, saying the material in transit would be vulnerable to terrorists. But French officials said they’d been reprocessing other countries’ nuclear material for decades without incident.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Kristi Noem might not be long for TrumplandIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Homeland Security secretary has been one of the most visible and vocal architects of Trump’s anti-immigration efforts, even as her own star risks fading
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
