CARSON CITY — Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has filed a motion requesting an injunction to stop the U.S. Department of Energy's continued shipping of weapons-grade plutonium into the state, pending an appeal filed with the Ninth Circuit Court.
Following the U.S. Department of Energy's announcement regarding the shipping of the plutonium into Nevada, the attorney general filed a preliminary injunction to stop the shipments, however the injunction was denied by the district court.
“[This] motion represents another step in our aggressive, multifaceted legal strategy to prevent Nevada from becoming a parking lot for nuclear weapons and waste,” said in a statement. “When the Department of Energy takes unilateral action to ship dangerous material to Nevada, it robs the state of our ability to prepare for the risks associated with transporting and storing plutonium. Frankly, the Department of Energy has lost all credibility and trust, and its assurances that it will not ship any plutonium in the future aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.”
“Just last month we met the department in federal court to discuss our motion for an injunction on its plans to ship half a metric ton of weapons-grade plutonium to our state," added Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak "[We] come to find out, that very shipment had already taken place, something the department failed to disclose to the state and the federal court.
"The state has filed another motion to prevent the department from pulling this despicable stunt again while the Ninth Circuit considers our appeal." .