Portuguese Reactor to Use Low-Enriched Uranium

With U.S. assistance, Portugal has completed the conversion of a small nuclear research reactor to use low-enriched uranium fuel instead of highly enriched uranium, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced today (see GSN, Sept. 27, 2004).

U.S. technicians worked with Portuguese nuclear engineers and International Atomic Energy Agency officials to convert the 1-megawatt research reactor to use fuel that would be much more difficult to use in nuclear weapons, according to an NNSA release.

“The successful conversion of this research reactor demonstrates that Portugal is a significant partner in the global nuclear nonproliferation effort,” NNSA deputy administrator William Tobey said in a statement. 

“This reactor conversion contributes to reducing the use of highly enriched uranium for civilian purposes and will help significantly as we continue to work with others to convert even more research reactors,” he said.

The United States now plans to cooperate in converting 77 more research reactors to use low enriched uranium by 2018 as a part of its nonproliferation efforts.

The Portuguese reactor conversion was funded by the U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, Sept. 24).

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