NNSA removes HEU from legacy Venezuelan research reactor

A team within the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) in the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has worked with staff from the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research and the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove all remaining high-enriched uranium from Venezuela's RV-1 research reactor, the NNSA has reported.

Approximately 13.5 kilograms (30 pounds) of uranium was removed from the reactor, which has been shut down since the early 1990s. The team packaged it into a spent fuel cask and transferred it onto a carrier vessel that was supplied by the United Kingdom's Nuclear Transport Solutions. After arriving in the United States, the uranium was transported to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and transferred to the custody of the DOE Office of Environmental Management. At SRS, technicians will process the material in the H-Canyon chemical separations facility for reuse.

A team effort: NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams noted that the team worked together to complete the removal of HEU in a matter of months, and said that the "safe removal of all enriched uranium from Venezuela sends another signal to the world of a restored and renewed Venezuela."

The NNSA has conducted many similar operations, including in 2022, when a team from the United States and Japan removed more than 30 kilograms of HEU from three Japanese sites.

DNN Deputy Administrator Matt Napoli, who supervised the operation in Venezuela, said, "NNSA's long history in removing nuclear material and the team's extensive know-how were key to this success. I would also like to extend my appreciation to our Venezuelan partners for finalizing this material removal and establishing the foundation for future cooperation."

The DNN's activities in Venezuela came four months after the Trump administration's ouster and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.