'Poland returns bomb-grade atom fuel to Russia'

Vienna, Aug 10: Poland has returned to Russia close to 40 kg of highly enriched uranium, enough to make an atomic bomb, as part of a global effort to secure high-risk nuclear material, a UN watchdog said today.

In a secret pre-dawn operation, the uranium was airlifted from Poland's Otwock-Swierk research reactor to Novosibirsk, Russia, where it will be diluted to ensure it cannot be used to build a bomb, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

IAEA safeguards inspectors and technical experts from the U S National Nuclear Security Administration monitored the loading of the uranium into canisters. The two-day operation was completed yesterday and secured by armed guards throughout.

The highly enriched uranium (HEU) was repatriated under a U S Global Threat Reduction Initiative to prevent nuclear materials falling into the hands of militant groups or states regarded as sponsors of terrorism.

A statement by the Vienna-based IAEA said a total of around 195 kg of HEU of Russian origin had been returned to Russia from foreign research reactors in the past few years.

''This was another critical step toward enhancing security of fissile material by eliminating stockpiles of HEU,'' the IAEA's manager for the Polish job, Arnaud Atger, said in the statement.

The Polish reactor is used to produce isotopes for medical treatment and diagnoses and to test power reactor fuel.

The IAEA said it is now helping convert the reactor, close to the capital Warsaw, to run on low-enriched uranium to minimise the nuclear proliferation risk one of more than 100 research reactors worldwide earmarked for such conversion.

Since 2003, the IAEA has helped to repatriate HEU from Serbia, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Libya as well as Poland to the country of origin.

Reuters