Summary: When the Energy Department (DOE) ceased nuclear weapons production in the late 1980s, much of its plutonium was either not in a suitable form or not packaged for long-term storage. Moreover, since the late 1980s, the United States has retired or dismantled many nuclear weapons, creating the need to store thousands of plutonium nuclear weapons components known as "pits." DOE now holds about 10,000 of these pits at its Pantex Plant, near Amarillo, Texas, and the number continues to rise as more nuclear weapons are retired and dismantled. Although DOE has made some progress in stabilizing its plutonium, the agency is unlikely to meet its May 2002 target date to have its plutonium that is not in pits stabilized, packaged, and stored. The DOE sites with the majority of this plutonium have experienced many delays and anticipate more in meeting their implementation plan milestones. In addition to delays in stabilizing and packaging its plutonium that is not in pits, DOE is now storing about 10,000 pits in containers that both the agency and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board believe are not suitable for extended storage, thus risking worker exposure to plutonium.
