Japan and the United States have removed all highly enriched uranium from a research reactor at Kyoto University and shipped the material to the U.S, according to a press release from the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Transfer of the material began three years ago and ended with all 45 kilograms of the fissile isotope to the agency’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., for conversion into low-enriched uranium or disposal, the press release reads.
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Material Management and Minimization, within the agency’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Office, helped facilitate the transfer, to which the countries first agreed during the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit.
Most of the work took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to NNSA’s press release.
Meanwhile, Kyoto University intends to convert its Kyoto University Critical Assembly to operate with low enriched uranium by the end of 2023 NNSA said.
