US senator says he is concerned energy secretary acting in nuclear firm's interest

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Edward Markey sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday saying he is concerned U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is working in the interest of nuclear power company Oklo OKLO.N, of which he used to be a board member.

Markey, a Democrat, noted that the administration is moving ahead with plans to allow Oklo to build a nuclear waste reprocessing plant and transfer government-held plutonium from nuclear weapons to use as fuel in planned reactor projects.

"Oklo stands to benefit financially and Secretary Wright is acting in his former company's interest," Markey said.

The White House referred a request for comment to the energy department, which did not respond immediately. Oklo said it had no comment.

Oklo said this month it plans to build and operate a plant in Tennessee to reprocess nuclear waste as the first phase of a nuclear fuel center costing up to $1.68 billion.

Reuters reported in August the government plans to make available 20 metric tons of plutonium to nuclear companies. Oklo has not said it wants to use the plutonium and the department has not announced plans on the material.

But an energy department source said Oklo has been in touch with the agency about using the radioactive metal and that top energy officials were having conversations with the company about it.

Markey asked Trump questions about Wright's connection to decision making and the Republican secretary's financial interest in Oklo.

Trump in May ordered the government to halt much of its existing program to dispose of plutonium, and instead provide it as a fuel for reactors.

The idea of using surplus plutonium as fuel and extracting it from nuclear waste has concerned nuclear safety experts who say it could increase risks of proliferation and make it hard for the U.S. to tell other countries not to pursue similar technologies.