KALAMAZOO, Mich., Dec 17 (Reuters)

A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for the shipment of plutonium from Los Alamos, New Mexico, to Canada by refusing to grant an injunction to groups who say the move would break U.S. law.

The order from U.S. District Judge Richard Alan Enslen in the Western District of Michigan also vacates a temporary restraining order that he issued on Dec. 7. The restraining order expires on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) The U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE) plans to truck nine fuel rods containing 119 grams of plutonium some 3,300 miles (5,280 km) through several states to an experimental reactor in Chalk River, Canada. The plutonium is at the centre of the Parallex Project, an experimental programme between the United States and Russia to dispose of fuel from dismantled nuclear weapons. The U.S. plutonium will be combined with nine rods from Russia and converted into nuclear reactor fuel. In a lawsuit filed Dec. 6 in federal court in Kalamazoo, Michigan, opponents of the effort said the Energy Department's plans violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and did not fully consider the environmental risks. The programme has also met resistance in Canada, where opponents fear their country will be turned into a dumping ground for nuclear waste. In addition to environmentalists, police and firefighters' associations have protested the shipment and Native American groups have threatened nonviolent actions to block the route. Alice Hirt, a Holland, Michigan, resident and one of the plaintiffs in the Michigan lawsuit, said on Friday that the opponents' attorneys were reviewing their options following Enslen's ruling. "For (DOE) to move ahead at this point flies in the face of the nonproliferation policy in this country, which has been in place for decades," she said. In his ruling, Enslen said opponents are likely to win on their NEPA violation claims. But he noted that the Parallex Project came out of talks between President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin and that courts should avoid interfering with U.S. foreign policy. "In the absence of overwhelming evidence by the plaintiffs demonstrating that the executive's foreign policy assessment is not credible or mistaken, the court must conclude that American nonproliferation interests would be harmed if the court were to issue an injunction," Enslen said. DOE officials said they were pleased by the decision, which will "allow the Energy Department to proceed with this important nonproliferation initiative." A spokeswoman said in response to concerns expressed by lawmakers, the DOE has taken additional safety steps including using specially designed vehicles. It was unclear when the plutonium will be transported. Hirt said DOE officials have said their deadline is Friday for starting the trip. DOE officials said Friday a date has not been set. Officials also refused to disclose the exact route for security reasons. Previous documents from the DOE indicated the shipment could pass through Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana before reaching Michigan. Once in Michigan, the fuel would cross the Mackinac Bridge into Michigan's Upper Peninsula, then enter Canada at Sault Ste. 
Marie. 

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