Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Excerpt from Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1997 and the Future Years Defense Program, Vol. 7: Hearings Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Second Session
As a result of the abrupt cessation of new nuclear weapons production operations in the late l980's, we not only have inherited a legacy of thousands of contaminated areas and buildings, and huge waste volumes, but we also have responsibility for large amounts of nuclear materials still in the pipeline of their production proc esses. For example, the program stores more than 25 metric tons of plutonium, which pose extraordinary safety and security obligations. This quantity of plutonium is sufficient to fabricate thousands of nuclear weapons, so the security as well as the safety of this material is of paramount importance. Moreover, plutonium can spontaneously ignite in contact with moist air in certain circumstances, thereby re quiring careful attention to handling and storage safety. We believe that our pri mary job is to address these most immediate, urgent risks to human health and the environment as well as manage the long-term contamination and safety threats, re ducing the long-term mortgage passed on to others.
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