Word: plutonium
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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During private talks in the gold-carpeted presidential office in Brasilia's Planalto Palace, both leaders touched only briefly on the issues that divide them. Carter urged Brazilians to consider fueling their nuclear reactors with thorium rather than uranium. Reason: uranium-fueled reactors produce more plutonium that can readily be used in nuclear weapons than thorium-fueled reactors would produce. But Geisel seemed unpersuaded, and Carter did not press the matter. "What would it accomplish?" asked a top White House aide. "Neither side is going to change, so we might as well spend our time discussing things of mutual...
...which has supervisory authority over the island as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, insisted that none of the people on Bikini had shown any adverse effects from radiation during periodic health checks. But officials found that levels of strontium and cesium, as well as of plutonium, were rising alarmingly among the returned islanders, and they now believe that Bikini probably will not be safe for long-term human occupation for another 35 to 50 years. "It is now clear," as the department put it, "that for the foreseeable future the island of Bikini should...
...Administration and Congress neared a compromise in the fight over construction of a fast-breeder reactor at Clinch River, Tenn. The attraction of the fast-breeder is that it produces more fuel in the form of plutonium than it uses. But President Carter fears that some of the plutonium could find its way into unfriendly hands and increase the danger of atomic-weapons proliferation. The Administration also considers the project too costly for current needs. The likely compromise: if Congress abandons the Clinch River project, as Carter wants, the Administration will agree to bankroll another, more advanced, large demonstration breeder...
...danger to human health from nuclear reactors centers on the reactors' radioactive waste products, such as plutonium, which are known to cause cancer. Plutonium is also used in making nuclear weapons...
...United States produced almost 30,000 such weapons and has 500 tons of plutonium for future use, Caldicott said...