Return of 80% highly enriched uranium fresh fuel from Yugoslavia to Russia

Abstract

The transport of almost 50 kg of highly enriched (80%) uranium (HEU), in the form of fresh TVR-S fuel elements, from the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Yugoslavia, to the Russian Federation for uranium reprocessing was carried out in August 2002. This act was a contribution of the Government of the Federal Republics of Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro) to the world's joint efforts to prevent possible actions of terrorists against nuclear material that, potentially, would be usable for the production of nuclear weapons. Basic aspects of this complex operation, carried out mainly by transport teams of the Vinča Institute and of the Institute for Safe Transport of Nuclear Materials from Dimitrovgrad, Russian Federation, are described in this paper. A team of IAEA safety inspectors and experts from the DOE, USA, for transport and non-proliferation, supported the whole operation.