Columbia, SC (WLTX)- The state’s lawsuit against the federal government, regarding the dumping of plutonium at the Savannah River Site, was heard in federal court Thursday.

In that suit, South Carolina asked for $100 million in penalties from the federal government and the removal of the nuclear waste.

The plutonium recycling plant in Aiken, also known as MOX, was to begin converting more than 30 tons of cold war-era plutonium from Russian to commercial grade energy.

Under an agreement with South Carolina, the federal government was supposed to either convert or remove the nuclear waste from the state by January 2016, otherwise the penalty would be a million dollars a day.

Both the federal and state governments agreed in court that the U.S. Department of Energy failed to meet that deadline.

In February of this year, Governor Nikki Haley filed a lawsuit to enforce the agreement, which is what brought both parties to the courtroom.

The state argued that they don’t want to be a “dumping ground” for nuclear waste of weapons grade plutonium.

Attorney Randy Lowell said the state deserved both the cap of $100 million in fines, and the speedy removal of plutonium

The federal government’s attorney Spencer Amdur called MOS an “enormous project” that has never been undertaken in the U.S. before.

“Congress determines the speed of the mox project with funding” Amdur said. 

He also argued that the U.S. government brings in plutonium to the SRS plant to protect the vulnerable resource from terrorism. 

U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs didn’t rule on the case today, but said she will issue a written ruling to come.