The Nation - News from Feb. 13, 1989

The U.S. government has continued to sell millions of dollars worth of tritium--crucial to the manufacture of nuclear weapons--while saying that there may not be enough of the gas to continue production, it was reported. The only reactors able to make the rapidly decaying radioactive gas in the United States are at the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina, which was closed last April. The Energy Department has said there may be an urgent shortage by year end. But the New York Times, citing private experts, said the commercial sales to American and foreign companies indicate the situation may not be as serious as the department suggested. However, Troy Wade, acting assistant secretary of energy for defense programs, told the paper that the sales were small and that the possible shortage was not exaggerated.