Feds to pay South Carolina $600M in plutonium removal deal

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Officials with the U.S. Department of Energy and South Carolina have inked a $600 million settlement over the storage of plutonium at a former nuclear weapons plant in the state, which officials called the largest single legal deal in state history. State Attorney General Alan Wilson said Monday that the deal ends six years of litigation over the removal of 9.5 metric tons of plutonium that had been stored at the Savannah River Site south of Aiken. Wilson said he expected the $600 million payment within the next 30 days. In exchange, Wilson said South Carolina will give the federal government 15 years to remove plutonium from the site.