Japan to Produce Weapons Grade Plutonium

A plant 700 kilometers north of Tokyo is one of the world's newest, largest and most controversial production facilities for a nuclear explosive material. Once it's running, the plant will produce thousands of gallon-sized steel canisters containing a flour-like mixture of waste uranium and plutonium. When the plant is operating at full capacity, it's supposed to produce 8 metric tons of plutonium annually -- enough to make 2,600 nuclear weapons, each with the explosive force of 20,000 tons of TNT. The Rokkasho plant is the cornerstone of a plan to build the world's first energy system based on plutonium-powered breeder reactors, which produce more plutonium than they consume.