Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : H-Bomb Fuel Plant Start-Up Predicted

Energy Secretary James D. Watkins told a House Armed Services subcommittee that in the next few weeks he expects to approve restarting the K nuclear reactor at Savannah River, Ga. The 37-year-old plant is the only remaining U.S. source of radioactive tritium, which is crucial to the hydrogen bomb. It was shut down in 1988 for modifications that cost nearly $1 billion. When it was restarted last December, leakage of about 150 gallons of radioactive cooling water prompted environmentalists and others to demand permanent closure. Military and Department of Energy spokesmen have said the leak is repaired and the plant is needed to produce a reserve tritium supply. Tritium recovered from retired warheads is believed enough to last until 2005, when a new tritium-producing facility is expected to be ready.