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International relations

US and Russia to Sign Initiative to Retrieve Highly Enriched Uranium from Unsecured Research Facilities

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is set to outline a bilateral initiative with Russia to retrieve highly enriched uranium from unsecured research facilities in a speech at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna tomorrow. This initiative aims to address the threat of nuclear terrorism by securing vulnerable nuclear material and preventing its potential use in the creation of dirty bombs or nuclear weapons. The programme, which has targeted facilities in several countries, including Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Libya, is expected to fill major gaps in the fight against the proliferation of nuclear materials.

Key Takeaways:

  • The US and Russia will sign a bilateral initiative to retrieve highly enriched uranium from unsecured research facilities, with the goal of preventing its potential use by terrorists.
  • The programme will target facilities in countries such as Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Libya, as well as Iran, where the US is concerned about research reactors.
  • The initiative will involve extracting highly enriched uranium from reactors with the agreement of the host country and converting the reactors to use uranium that is not usable in a nuclear weapon.
  • The US will "pay the bill" for the programme.
  • The US estimates that there are 15-17 reactors using enriched uranium from Russia and the same number of facilities using material from the US.

Statistics:

  • There are 15-17 reactors using enriched uranium from Russia.
  • There are 15-17 reactors using enriched uranium from the US.
  • The US "pays the bill" for the programme.

Sources:

  • "US and Russia to cooperate on nuclear safety", The Financial Times, (no date provided) www.ft.com/world

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