[originaltext] The Thorpe facility in northwest England would reprocess spe

The Thorpe facility in northwest England would reprocess spent nuclear fuel and its ten years of operation could produce 60 tons of plutonium. Expertise would be needed to convert the plutonium into weapon-grade material.  And that’s in any case the International Atomic Energy Agency would ensure that none went astray. But there is great opposition in the United States to further production of plutonium, even for civilian uses. The Defense Department opposed the export of spent fuel to reprocessing plants in France, saying this would be an extremely damaging signal at a time when the United States wanted to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation. An independent report for the Pentagon says more plutonium would be produced from civilian programmes such as Thorpe than from the dismantling of nuclear weapons.