U.S. Removes All Enriched Uranium from Venezuela's RV-1 Reactor
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration completed the removal of all remaining enriched uranium from Venezuela’s RV-1 legacy research reactor, eliminating a decades-old nuclear surplus risk in under six weeks from initial site assessment to material departure.
The RV-1 reactor supported physics and nuclear research until 1991. When operations ceased, its uranium—enriched above the 20 percent threshold that marks the critical boundary for weapons-usable material—remained in place as surplus. Thirty-five years later, 13.5 kilograms of that material has been secured and transported to the United States.
NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation led the operation in coordination with U.S. State Department personnel in Washington and Caracas, the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology, the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Transport Solutions, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Following DOE Secretary Wright’s February visit to Venezuela, technical teams completed the removal in weeks rather than the years such operations typically require.
The material was packaged into a spent nuclear fuel cask, transported 100 miles overland to a Venezuelan port, transferred to a UK-supplied specialized carrier, and arrived on U.S. shores in early May. It is now at the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon chemical separations facility, where it will be processed into high-assay low-enriched uranium for civilian nuclear fuel supply.
DNN’s Deputy Administrator Dr. Matt Napoli traveled to Venezuela to oversee the operation directly. Since 1996, DNN and its predecessor offices have removed or confirmed the disposition of over 7,350 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and plutonium from dozens of countries.
The Venezuela operation closes a nonproliferation gap that persisted through multiple U.S. administrations and marks the first significant nuclear cooperation milestone between Washington and Caracas in the current diplomatic framework.