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Court rules for US in fight over Nevada plutonium shipment

Posted at 2:41 PM, Aug 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-13 17:41:30-04

A federal appeals court has ruled against Nevada in a legal battle over the U.S. government's secret shipment of weapons-grade plutonium to a site near Las Vegas.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied the state's appeal after a judge refused to block any future shipments to Nevada.

The court in San Francisco says the matter is moot because the Energy Department already sent the radioactive material and has promised that no more will be hauled there.

Nevada also wanted the court to order the government to remove the plutonium it shipped to Nevada last year but didn't reveal until January.

The 9th Circuit says that issue also is moot because the state failed to include that request in its original court filings.