U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to use leftover Cold War-era plutonium as a potential fuel source for new nuclear reactors, according to media reports.

A Reuters report stated that the Trump administration aims to make available around 20 metric tons of plutonium extracted from dismantled nuclear warheads to be used as fuel for American energy reactors.

This initiative follows an executive order signed by Trump in May that halted much of the existing program for disposing of surplus plutonium, shifting the focus toward using it in advanced nuclear fuel technologies.

According to the report, the U.S. Department of Energy will soon invite proposals from the private sector. The plutonium would be offered at low or no cost, while participating companies would bear the expenses for transportation, design, and construction.

Plutonium has only been used in short-lived fuel experiments, and full details regarding the quantity and timeline remain undisclosed. The total usable stockpile is estimated at 34 metric tons, although the U.S. had committed to disposing of it under a 2000 non-proliferation agreement with Russia.

While the Department of Energy has not confirmed the report, it stated that it is evaluating strategies to strengthen domestic nuclear fuel supply chains.

This move comes amid rising electricity demand in the U.S., but it has raised concerns among nuclear safety experts. They point to the failed MOX fuel project, which was canceled in 2018 after ballooning costs.

The report notes that the plutonium is currently stored in highly secure facilities and has a long half-life of 24,000 years, requiring extreme caution in handling. The previous disposal plan involved burying it in an experimental storage site at an estimated cost of $20 billion.

Nuclear physicist Edwin Lyman criticized the idea of converting plutonium into fuel, calling it “insanity,” and urged adherence to the safer and more cost-effective disposal plan.