Sept. 11 brought home the dangers of terrorism. But years before that, during the mid-1990s, a decision was made that worsened the risk of nuclear terrorism today: The government privatized the U.S. Enrichment Corp., commonly known as USEC. A division of the Energy Department, USEC had been the government entity charged with enriching natural uranium metal. Low-enriched uranium fuels nuclear power plants; highly enriched uranium fuels nuclear weapons. The two products are made by the same process.
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