A US judge rejected South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges' legal challenge to the Energy Department's plans to ship 34 metric tonnes of surplus, weapons grade plutonium for conversion to fuel in the state. Hodges had argued that the department of energy was required to complete a new environmental impact report. It is feared that the plutonium could be stored in the state indefinitely which could be hazardous. Now, Hodges is filing an appeal at the federal appeals court in Virginia.