Image courtesy of Qué Pasa.
The Trump administration has completed the removal of all remaining enriched uranium from a legacy research reactor in Venezuela, marking a major nuclear security victory for the United States, South America, and the world.
According to a post from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, the DOE/NNSA worked with international partners to remove all enriched uranium from Venezuela’s RV-1 research reactor.
The agency described the operation as a major nonproliferation success that reduced risk to both South America and the U.S. homeland.
“The safe removal of all enriched uranium from Venezuela sends another signal to the world of a restored and renewed Venezuela,” NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams said, according to the Department of Energy post.
“Thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership, the dedicated teams on the ground completed in months what would have normally taken years.”
The uranium came from the RV-1 reactor, which had supported physics and nuclear research for decades. According to DOE/NNSA, once that work ended in 1991, the uranium became surplus material.
The material was enriched above the crucial 20% threshold, making its removal a serious national security matter.
The operation moved quickly after Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Venezuela in February.
In the weeks that followed, NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation worked with State Department personnel in Washington and Caracas, experts from the United Kingdom, the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology, and the International Atomic Energy Agency to prepare the removal.
Less than six weeks after the initial site visit, the team safely removed 13.5 kilograms, or roughly 30 pounds, of uranium from the RV-1 reactor.
The material was securely packaged into a spent fuel cask before being escorted about 100 miles overland to a Venezuelan port. From there, the cargo was transferred to a specialized carrier supplied by the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Transport Solutions.
The vessel then transported the uranium to the United States, where it arrived on U.S. shores in early May.
Upon arrival, American teams unloaded the casks and transported the material to the Savannah River Site for processing and reuse.
The mission adds to decades of U.S. work aimed at preventing dangerous nuclear material from falling into the wrong hands.
Since 1996, DOE/NNSA and predecessor offices have removed or confirmed the disposition of more than 7,350 kilograms, or 16,250 pounds, of highly enriched uranium and plutonium from dozens of countries.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management took custody of the material at the Savannah River Site. According to the department, technicians will process uranium at the H-Canyon chemical separations facility to produce high-assay, low-enriched uranium for America’s nuclear renaissance.
While previous administrations often allowed dangerous problems to sit inside bureaucratic timelines, the Department of Energy said this mission was completed in months rather than years.
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