PM BRIEFING : U.S. to Sell Tritium Despite Pinch

The Energy Department has decided to continue selling tritium to private companies despite what it calls a serious pinch on supplies of the radioactive gas used to make nuclear warheads, officials said today.

Last year the department, through its Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, sold about 240 grams of tritium to U.S. and foreign companies, and this year’s sales are projected at 230 grams, department spokesman Phil Keif said.

“This is a small piece of the total production,” he said, adding that the exact total is classified.

The practice of commercial sales of tritium dates back several decades but it has come under review by the Energy Department since production was halted last spring at the Savannah River Plant--the government’s sole source of the gas.