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US clears Venezuela reactor of all highly enriched uranium after months long risky operation
International
Published on 14 May 2026
The whole stock vanished in under six weeks onsite
The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration says it has removed the last highly enriched uranium from Venezuela’s legacy RV-1 research reactor. The operation, coordinated with Venezuela’s Ministry of Science and Technology, the IAEA, UK experts, and US State Department personnel, follows research ending in 1991, when uranium enriched above 20% remained as surplus. NNSA removed 13.5 kilograms in under six weeks, shipped it to the US, and will process it into high-assay low-enriched uranium for reuse.
- NNSA said all remaining HEU was removed from Venezuela’s RV-1 reactor
- Removal was coordinated with Venezuela, the IAEA, UK experts, and US officials
- In less than six weeks, 13.5 kg of HEU was extracted from the site
- The uranium was moved by land to a Venezuelan port and shipped to the US
- Material arrived in the US in early May and went to Savannah River Site
- NNSA will process it into high-assay low-enriched uranium at H-Canyon
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times