Sen. Ed Markey is sounding the alarm over the White House’s plans to dole out weapons-grade plutonium to private industry and whether those plans could end up benefiting a nuclear reactor company with ties to Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
In a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Democrat described the White House’s move to provide weapons-grade plutonium to private companies as both dangerous and potentially a conflict of interest.
He expressed concern that the plutonium could go to Oklo, a company Wright once helped lead. The administration released a statement denying anything improper and that Wright doesn’t have a financial stake in Oklo.
Markey said in the letter, “I am concerned that your Administration is moving forward with plans to transfer plutonium to Oklo and allow it to build a reprocessing plant not because these proposals make sense for the United States, but because Oklo stands to benefit financially and Secretary Wright is acting in his former company’s interest.”
