United States, Canada complete nuclear material shipping campaign

Richard Sexton, President and CEO of AECL stated, “This is another great example of AECL and NNSA working together to advance our shared nonproliferation objectives and advance global nuclear security.”

The Canadian target residue material was the by-product of the production of medical isotopes from AECL’s National Research Universal research reactor. Although the research reactor is now shut down, for many decades it produced medical isotopes that benefitted millions of people internationally each year for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. The medical isotopes were produced using HEU supplied by the United States.

The target residue material was returned to the United States under the U.S.-Origin Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance Program, which was established in 1996 with the mission to repatriate U.S.-origin spent nuclear fuel and other weapons-grade nuclear material from civilian sites worldwide.

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, and Savannah River National Laboratory were key partners and played a pivotal role in the success of the campaign. It also relied on the cooperation and aid of numerous state and tribal governments.

AECL and NNSA have signed a memorandum of understanding to enable more effective collaboration in the areas of nuclear safety and security and are exploring the repatriation of additional HEU and other materials over the next several years.web article explaining the details of the campaign with photos and an animation, click here.