International inspectors began yesterday overseeing the conversion of U.S. uranium used for nuclear weapons into fuel for power plants.
"A new page in the history of nuclear arms control is being written," Energy Secretary Federico Pen~a said in announcing the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"For the first time, international monitors are witnessing a nuclear weapon state take weapons-usable uranium from its military program and transform it into fuel for heating homes and lighting cities."
Converting excess weapons-grade uranium into fuel sold to power companies has been under way for some time. Already, Pen~a said, Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. is using the marble-sized pellets at its Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant.
But yesterday was the first time international monitors could see the process at the Energy Department's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio.
Initially, the IAEA will inspect the conversion of 3.5 tons of uranium, part of the 174 tons President Clinton has said the U.S. military no longer needs. All 174 tons eventually will be made available for IAEA monitoring.
Russia has agreed to dilute 500 tons of weapons-usable uranium and sell it to the United States for commercial use over the next 20 years. Pen~a said Russia, the United States and the IAEA are trying to come to an agreement for the agency to monitor both countries' excess nuclear materials.
© Copyright 1997 The Associated Press