Judge to S. Carolina: Make way for plutonium

Gov. Hodges was ordered Tuesday not to disrupt the shipment of plutonium through South Carolina.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge ordered South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges on Tuesday not to interfere in the U.S. government's planned shipment of plutonium to the Savannah River Site in the governor's state.

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie granted the U.S. Energy Department's motion for an injunction to prevent Hodges or anyone acting on his behalf from attempting to halt the plutonium shipments at the South Carolina border.

The Energy Department has said it will begin moving surplus plutonium from the Rocky Flats weapons site in Colorado, which is being closed, to the Savannah River Site as early as Saturday. The government plans to convert the plutonium into nuclear reactor fuel over the next 20 years.

EXTRA INFORMATION Fact sheet: The tug-of-war over plutonium

Hodges has vowed to use physical means, if necessary, to prevent the shipments. After a judge refused last week to halt them, Hodges defiantly dispatched troopers to the border to keep the plutonium from entering the state.

Hodges, a Democrat facing a tough re-election battle, has charged the federal government wants to use South Carolina as "the nation's plutonium dumping ground."

Federal authorities deny that and have promised to help push legislation that would guarantee South Carolina does not become a permanent storage site for plutonium.