1.   One such project was to have focused on reducing the toxic waste produced when making the plutonium core of nuclear missiles.

2.   One plant would convert sealed plutonium cores, or pits, into a powder form.

3.   The Nuclear Control Institute, an antiproliferation group based in Washington, argues that a plutonium core makes a nuclear accident slightly more likely.

4.   The plant was never home to the most sensitive part of nuclear weapon manufacturing, where highly radioactive plutonium cores are made.

5.   The repercussions, Hecker said, could affect how plutonium for warheads is made and stored, perhaps changing things like the spacing between plutonium cores.

6.   The same MOX technology, say the Russians, could be used to dispose of the plutonium cores they are removing from their nuclear warheads.