The Energy Department has shipped a metric ton of plutonium out of the South Carolina-based Savannah River Site, said South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Half of the plutonium was shipped to Nevada, but the location of the other half metric ton was not disclosed.

A resolution was passed by the Aiken County Council in South Carolina supporting plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site. The work "is critical for our national security and important for both the future of SRS and for sustaining the economy in Aiken County," the resolution said.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says he wants to save the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site. "Over and over again, it's been very sad to me to see how this has proceeded," Wilson said, as the facility has had multiple rounds of layoffs.

The Obama administration's plan to defund the Savannah River Site's mixed-oxide fuel program in South Carolina has been met with criticism by officials from the state. State Attorney General Alan Wilson has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that removing the facility's funding would violate a 2000 deal with Russia for the proper disposal of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Meanwhile, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, along with Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, have been critical of President Barack Obama's budget for fiscal 2017, which includes the proposal to use a different method for disposing of the plutonium.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has notified Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that the state is ready to sue the federal government due to construction delays related to the Savannah River Site. "[The Energy Department]'s actions over the past few years demonstrate that it does not view these obligations, especially those to South Carolina, as the legally binding requirements they are," Wilson wrote of the delays that have postponed planned plutonium reprocessing in the state.