• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

United States Assisted Libyan Transfer of Nuclear Fuel to Russia

27 July 2006

July transfer part of effort to remove all Russian nuclear material from Libya

Washington – The U.S. Department of Energy supported an operation in late July to move 3 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) out of Libya and back to Russia – its country of origin.

The two-day operation to remove the HEU from the Tajoura research reactor in Libya and fly it to Russia involved the combined efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Libya, the Russian Federation and the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

NNSA’s administrator, Linton Brooks, said achieving international security depends on “our ability to work together with other countries and partners to protect and safeguard nuclear material around the world.”

Libya’s cooperation and commitment is key to this ongoing nonproliferation effort, Brooks said.  The most recent transfer, he said, “is a clear indication of Libya’s continued commitment to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction and proliferation-sensitive materials.”

Russia provided the transportation containers while IAEA nuclear safeguards inspectors and NNSA technical experts monitored the fuel loading process.

The containers were airlifted from Tripoli’s airport to a secure facility in Russia where the HEU will be blended into low enriched uranium (LEU).

This is not the first such transaction; Libya sent 17 kilograms of HEU to Russia in 2004; Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Latvia and the Czech Republic have carried out similar fuel transfers to Russia.

NNSA also worked with Libya early in 2006 to convert the Tajoura critical-assembly plant to run on LEU fuel and supplied replacement LEU fuel so that it can be up and running within several months.

For more information about U.S. policy, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)