NNSA removes HEU from legacy Venezuelan research reactor

[Marlin]

NNSA removes HEU from legacy Venezuelan research reactor

https://www.ans.org/news/2026-05-12/article-8022/nnsa-removes-heu-from-legacy-venezuelan-research-reactor/

[News Wire]

The National Nuclear Security Administration removed 13.5 kilograms of high-enriched uranium from Venezuela's inactive RV-1 research reactor. The material was transported to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for secure storage and management. This operation concludes a long-term international effort to eliminate weapons-usable nuclear material from the site.

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...

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...

Read the full article at ans.org:
https://www.ans.org/news/2026-05-12/article-8022/nnsa-removes-heu-from-legacy-venezuelan-research-reactor/