HEU removed from San Diego site

Tuesday, 9 November 2010 Almost 60 kg of used fuel has been removed from a shut down research reactor site near San Diego, California, and transported to a secure federal facility some 1600 kilometres away, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced. The undisclosed research reactor began conducting government-sponsored research in the late 1950s and after more than 40 years of operation was shut down to await decommissioning. When constructed, the facility was in a remote and isolated area, but that area has since become part of suburban San Diego. During a three-week period in August and September 2010, three shipments totalling 19.7 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and 37 kg of low enriched uranium (LEU) were transported from the site on the 22 hour journey. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensee reimbursed the federal government for the cost of the operation, the NNSA said.