25 Aug (NucNet): USEC said yesterday that some 425 metric tonnes of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) has now been converted into fuel for US commercial nuclear power plants under the US-Russia ‘megatons to megawatts’ programme.
USEC said the HEU was equivalent to eliminating 17,000 nuclear warheads.
Megatons to megawatts is a 20-year commercially financed government-industry partnership under which 500 metric tonnes of Russian weapons-grade uranium is being downblended to low enriched uranium for use as commercial reactor fuel.
USEC president and chief executive officer John Welch said: “Under this programme, we have built a strong long-term relationship with our Russian partners, which we expect to continue through our new enrichment supply contract starting in 2013 after the megatons to megawatts programme is successfully finished.”
USEC, as executive agent for the US government, and Techsnabexport, acting for the Russian government, implement the programme, which is on track to complete the downblending of the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads into nuclear fuel by the end of 2013.
Details of the initiative are on USEC’s website: www.usec.com
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
'Megatons To Megawatts’ Programme Now 75% Complete (News in Brief No. 126, 24 September 2009)
Tenex Expects 2010 Commercial Exports To Reach USD 2.3 Billion (World Nuclear Review No. 51, 24 December 2010)
