Duke halts MOX (plutonium/uranium fuel) testing at Catawba Nuclear Station

[jpak]

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/726267.html

Duke Energy has removed test bundles of mixed-oxide or MOX fuel from its Catawba Nuclear Station on Lake Wylie as it investigates unusual physical changes in the assemblies.

Anti-MOX groups say the halt means the testing should start all over again, delaying by years a billion-dollar federal program to use surplus weapons plutonium at Catawba.

MOX fuel mixes conventional uranium with plutonium taken from the nation's surplus stocks to fuel nuclear reactors that produce electricity. Duke is part of a program to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium, keeping it out of terrorists' hands.

Testing of the fuel was expected to take more than four years, covering three refueling cycles at Catawba's Unit 1. Instead, the MOX was removed in May, after two cycles and less than three years of testing.

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