Safety op targets Polish uranium

By Angus Crawford
BBC News, Warsaw

The nuclear material was loaded onto a plane (Photo: IAEA)

Forty kilograms (88lb) of weapons-grade uranium has been taken from a reactor in Poland to stop it falling into terrorists' hands, the BBC has learned.

Officials say the unused fuel was enough to make at least one crude nuclear bomb. Experts estimate just 25kg could make a nuclear weapon.

The operation was organised by the UN nuclear watchdog and Polish, Russian and US authorities were also involved.

There are 130 similar reactors across the world - security is often poor.

Every day there are terrorist groups trying to get their hands on this material Bryan Wilkes, US National Nuclear Security Administration

A convoy of police cars and trucks sped though the night to Warsaw airport - protected by heavily armed special forces troops.

Its cargo was 40kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU).

I was the only journalist allowed on the mission.

"Every day there are terrorist groups trying to get their hands on this material," said Bryan Wilkes from the US National Nuclear Security Administration, who was also following the shipment.

"We are racing to stop them".

No radioactivity risk

The fuel came from a small research reactor on the outskirts of the city, built by the Russians. Nowadays it mainly produces radioactive isotopes for use in treating cancer.

The fear is that criminal or terrorist groups could break into one of the similar reactors across the world and steal enough supplies for a basic "gun-type nuke" - like that used at Hiroshima in Japan.

The HEU rods are lightweight and easy to handle

I found out just how easy it is to handle HEU, when I was led into a small room full of technicians and inspectors.

They asked me to put on some gloves and then handed me the aluminium tube. There's no risk from radioactivity and it was light enough to carry several in a backpack.

In total, 35 rods were packed into flasks - looking like small green torpedoes, ready for shipment.

The operation was run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) using US money. Russian and Polish authorities were also involved.

It is part of a wider programme to return all former Soviet HEU fuel given to the USSR's former satellites.

Blended down

I was shown into the reactor itself - christened Maria by its designers.

I was allowed to lift a floor panel and look down at the bright blue cooling water below my feet - seven metres (23 feet) further down I could see the core glowing indigo.

Like other plants in the programme its HEU fuel will be converted to LEU - low enriched uranium - which cannot be used in weapons.

The heavily armed convoy arrived at the airport close to midnight. The flasks were then loaded onto a battered Russian transport aircraft.

Maria's rods are now in a secure facility in Dimitrovgrad. Soon they will be blended down to LEU.

This is the 10th such mission, but there are still more then 1,700kg to be recovered from research reactors in 40 countries around the world.