The last 11 kilograms of weapons-capable highly enriched uranium has been removed from Vietnam and returned to Russia, according to today’s announcement by the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The NNSA worked on the removal project in conjunction with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Russian Federation.
The HEU was removed from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute in Vietnam.
“With this shipment, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam became the eleventh country from which all HEU has been removed since President Obama’s 2009 announcement in Prague of an international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world,” the NNSA announcement said.

The NNSA said the United States would work with international partners to remove the remaining HEU from another, unspecified country by the end of 2013.
In a statement, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said, “Today, with the complete removal of all highly enriched uranium from Vietnam, we can say that Vietnam’s decision to remove and secure vulnerable nuclear material demonstrates the international community’s commitment to ensure that terrorists never acquire a nuclear weapon.”
The report said the highly enriched uranium was transported by truck from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute to a military airport outside of Ho Chi Minh City, It was then airlifted to Russia, where it reportedly will be downblended to eliminate its weapons capability.
Photo credit: NNSA