Two new facilities for secure radiological material storage have been dedicated at a radioactive waste disposal institution in Tajikistan, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced Thursday.
The facilities at the State Institution Radioactive Waste Disposal Site are part of a broader U.S. effort to prevent terrorists from acquiring radiological materials, the agency said. Tajikistan still faces the problem of managing radiation sources on its territory left over from industrial applications during the Soviet era. The country also uses radioactive sources for medical, industrial, and research purposes.
“The completion of these upgraded facilities will strengthen the safe and secure management of [disused and orphaned radiological materials] in Tajikistan,” Anne Harrington, NNSA deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, said in the statement.
NNSA spokeswoman Francie Israeli said by email that both buildings were pre-existing and that the improvements cost about $275,000. The NNSA funded 25 percent of the project, she said.
Along with NNSA officials, the dedication ceremony Wednesday included representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, the British Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the Tajik government.
Late last year, the NNSA provided Tajikistan with two secure vehicles to be used for the transport of radiological materials. In 2011, the U.S. Embassy spent nearly $569,500 to renovate a laboratory under the Academy of Sciences and equip the center with radiation identification devices, also to help interdict nuclear and radioactive material smuggling. Over the last two decades, the U.S. has also provided assistance to Tajikistan through physical security enhancements of radiological materials, the provision of mobile radiation detection equipment, and related projects.
NNSA Hosts Annual U.S.-China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology Meeting
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this week hosted the 11th annual U.S.-China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology (PUNT) meeting at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C., alongside the China National Energy Administration (NEA).
The annual meeting allows the U.S. and China to oversee technical cooperation through the PUNT Agreement, which was established in 1998 to promote civilian development of nuclear energy in the two countries. Delegations at the May 10-11 meeting reviewed the progress of six working groups under the agreement covering nuclear energy technology, safeguards and security, environment and waste management, nuclear emergency management, radioactive source security, and public and stakeholder outreach, the NNSA said Friday.
Participants at the meeting included representatives from the Department of Energy’s Offices of Nuclear Energy and Environmental Management; the Argonne, Oak Ridge, Sandia, Las Alamos, and Savannah River national laboratories; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the Departments of State and Commerce; the Chinese Foreign Affairs and Environmental Protection ministries; and the China Atomic Energy Authority.
“China has the fastest growing civil nuclear energy program in the world and the United States operates the most advanced, safe, and reliable fleet of nuclear power plants in the world,” NEA Director General of the Electric Power Department Liu Baohua said in the statement. “It is vitally important for our two countries to develop a closer cooperative partnership to enhance peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”
