Uranium from Japan shipped to Y-12, Aiken

The Oak Ridger
·2 min read
President Joe Biden shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace, Monday, May 23, 2022, in Tokyo.
President Joe Biden shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace, Monday, May 23, 2022, in Tokyo.
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Earlier this week, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan announced the successful removal of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from three Japanese sites.

The HEU from Japan was sent to the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., and the Y-12 National Nuclear Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

"It will be down-blended to low-enriched uranium and/or dispositioned, permanently reducing the risk it could be used to produce an improvised nuclear device," the release stated.

"This joint effort, which took four years to complete, will make the world safer," the release continued.

The shipment, which was completed in March, removed all HEU from the:

  • University of Tokyo’s Yayoi Research Reactor;

  • Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Deuterium Critical Assembly;

  • Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Japan Research Reactor 4.

The NNSA and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology worked together on the removal as part of their mutual nonproliferation goal of reducing HEU around the world. The shipment was undertaken in close cooperation with the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Transport Solutions and Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

The removal fulfills a commitment first announced at a 2018 U.S.-Japan Bilateral Commission on Civil Nuclear Cooperation meeting in Tokyo.

“This HEU removal is the result of years of close cooperation and hard work — made all the more challenging by the pandemic and travel restrictions. It speaks to the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan,” NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Corey Hinderstein stated in the release. “Permanently eliminating nuclear material that could be used in a weapon is just one of the ways NNSA and its international partners help make the world a safer place every day.”

Y-12 National Security Complex
Y-12 National Security Complex

NNSA’s Office of Nuclear Material Removal works with partner countries and international institutions around the world to identify excess nuclear material and implement permanent solutions to consolidate, remove and dispose of it. To date, the office has removed or confirmed the disposition of nearly 7,270 kilograms of weapons-usable nuclear material — enough material for about 325 nuclear weapons, the news release stated.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: U.S. removes over 30 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Japan