19 March 2008: NNSA Announces VVR-SM Reactor Conversion
The VVR-SM research reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Ulugbek was converted from using highly enriched uranium fuel to low enriched uranium fuel, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced on 19 March. The U.S.-led Global Threat Reduction Initiative provided funding and assistance for the conversion, which was accomplished in close collaboration with the reactor personnel at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Ulugbek.
Source: National Nuclear Security Administration, "Reactor converted in Uzbekistan," 19 March 2008, http://nnsa.energy.gov/news/1939.htm.

19 October 2007: Uzbekistan and Japan to Jointly Develop Rudnoye Deposit
On 19 October 2007, Uzbekistan signed a contract with Japan's Itochu Corporation, agreeing to jointly develop technology for exploration of the Rudnoye uranium deposit in Uzbekistan. Reportedly, Uzbekistan was set to export up to 300 tons of low enriched uranium to Japan. Head of the State Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources Nariman Mavlyanov stated that formation of a joint venture with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation to develop Uzbek uranium deposits was also under consideration.
Source: Shamil Baigin, “Uzbekistan invites Japan to develop uranium deposits,” Reuters, 19 October 2007.

3 April 2007: Uzbekistan Ratifies the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone of Central Asia
On 3 April 2007, Uzbekistan ratified the NWFZ of Central Asia with the signature of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Earlier on 26 January 2007, the law was accepted by the legislative (lower) branch and subsequently approved by the senate on 30 March. The NWFZ of Central Asia was signed by five Central Asian countries on 8 September 2006 in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
Source: "Uzbekistan ratifitsiroval "Dogovor o zone, svobodnoy ot yadernogo oruzhiya v Tsentralnoy Azii" [Uzbekistan has ratified the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in Central Asia agreement] , Regnum, 3 April 2007, www.regnum.ru/news/806998.html.

November 2006: Uzbekistan and Russia Agree on Joint Venture Plans
On 1 November 2006, Uzbekistani officials announced an agreement between Tashkent and Moscow to implement a joint uranium project that would explore and mine uranium reserves in Uzbekistan. The Russian partners in the venture are thought to be Techsnabexport and Rusburmash; the Uzbekistani partners are thought to be Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combine and the State Geology and Mineral Resources Committee.
Source: "Uzbekistan, Russia Decide on Joint Uranium Plans," Interfax, 1 November 2006.

30 August 2006: Uzbekistan and Japan Sign Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
During the state visit of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Uzbekistan and Japan agreed to cooperate in exploration and development of Uzbekistan’s uranium deposits.
Source: “Japanese PM winds up Uzbek visit,” BBC News, 30 August 2006.

19 April 2006: Uzbekistan Transfers Spent Nuclear Fuel to Russia
On 19 April 2006, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced that it had completed the transfer of approximately 139 pounds of spent research reactor fuel from on-site cooling ponds at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (Ulugbek) to Russia. The transfer was made in four tranches at a cost of $11 million.[1] The Institute had accumulated spent fuel since 1993.[2]
Sources:
[1] C.J. Chivers, "Uzbeks Ship Bomb-Grade Waste to Russia," New York Times, 20 April 2006.
[2] Emily Ewell, "Trip Report - Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine," May 1996

25 January 2006: Uzbekistan and Russia Expand Nuclear Industry Ties
On 25 January 2006, Uzbekistan became the sixth member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Community (EEC). In his remarks to a gathering of the EEC in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for increased cooperation within the EEC, especially with regards to the development of collaboration in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Putin noted that Uzbekistan's extensive uranium ore reserves give Russia "additional long-term possibilities for the building of a stable nuclear fuel energy base." The EEC meeting yielded a a joint uranium mining agreement between Russia's Tekhsnabeksport and Uzbekistan's Navoi Metallurgical Combine.
Sources:
[1] "Rossiya gotova pomoch razvivayushchimsya stranam osvoit atomnuyu energiyu," Russian Federal Atomic Energy website, 26 January 2006, http://www.minatom.ru/News/Main/view?id=28755&idChannel=343.
[2] Yuriy Humber, "Putin Strengthens Atomic Ties," Moscow Times, 26 January 2006.

9 September 2004: Russia Repatriates Nuclear Fuel from Uzbekistan
Nearly 11 kilograms of Russian-origin enriched uranium fuel, including three kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU), have been repatriated to Russia from a research reactor near the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. HEU is potentially usable for nuclear weapons. The fuel was airlifted under guard on 9 September 2004, from an airport outside of Tashkent to the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Russia, where it will be downblended into low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel suitable for use in nuclear power reactors. LEU cannot be used for nuclear weapons.

The nuclear fuel assemblies were originally supplied to Uzbekistan for use in the Russian-designed 10 megawatt VVR-SM research reactor, located at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP) in Ulugbek, 30 km northeast of Tashkent.

The one-day secret operation was a joint effort between the governments of Russia, the United States, and Uzbekistan, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Uzbekistan provided guarded transport for the fuel from the reactor to the airport in Tashkent; Russia supplied transportation canisters and coordinated the implementation of the project; and the IAEA provided safeguards inspectors to confirm the removal of the material from Uzbekistani control to Russia.[1,2,3,4] The United States provided funding and technical expertise under the U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI). The mission of the GTRI is to remove and/or secure high-risk nuclear and radiological materials and equipment around the world that pose a potential threat to the United States and to the international community. Under the GTRI, which is implemented by the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States will work with Russia to repatriate all Russian-origin fresh HEU fuel from non-Russian research centers formerly supported by the Soviet Union. The work is to be completed by the end of 2005. All Soviet/Russian-origin HEU spent fuel is to be repatriated from such centers by 2010.[4,5,6,7]

Two cooling ponds at INP in Ulugbek still house at least 237 irradiated fuel elements containing HEU, which, according to Matthew Bunn of Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom, are no longer “self-protecting,” meaning that the material is no longer so radioactive that it would injure anyone who handled it. According to a Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency official, the transfer of these irradiated fuel elements to Russia’s Mayak facility is expected to take place in 2005.[4,5,8]

This is the fifth repatriation of HEU fuel to Russia since August 2002. Earlier transfers involved Russian-origin fuel from Serbia and Montenegro (August 2002), Romania (September 2003), Bulgaria (December 2003), and Libya (March 2004).

Editor’s Note: INP was founded in 1956 as part of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.[9] INP is often described as the largest facility of its kind in Central Asia and aims to become the primary nuclear research and isotope production facility for the region.[10] In addition to the VVR-SM reactor, the institute houses two cyclotrons, a gamma source facility, a neutron generator, and a radiochemical complex.[11] From 1959 to 1971, the reactor used LEU fuel elements enriched to 10%. (HEU is defined as uranium enriched to more than 20%, but the material enriched to more than 80% is considered the most useful for nuclear weapons.) From 1971 to 1979, the reactor was modernized under a project developed by Russia’s Kurchatov Institute. From 1979 to August 1998, the reactor used IRT-2M type fuel assemblies with 90% HEU-based fuel. The reactor was converted to use 36% HEU under the Russian Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors program, a process lasting from August 1998 to February 1999. The last of the 90% HEU fuel was loaded into the reactor core in August 1998. Uzbekistan has agreed to further reduce the enrichment level of fuel at the reactor to 19.7% HEU.[3,12]
Sources:
[1] “SShA i Rossiya osushchestvili sovmestnuyu operatsiyu po vyvozu yadernogo topliva iz Uzbekistana” [USA and Russia conduct joint operation on the repatriation of nuclear fuel from Uzbekistan], ITAR-TASS, September 14, 2004; Minatom website, http://www.minatom.ru/Community/news.
[2] “Rossiya vyvezla 11 kg yadernogo topliva iz Uzbekistana” [Russia repatriated 11 kg of nuclear fuel from Uzbekistan], Interfax, September 13, 2004.
[3] “Secret Mission to Recover Highly Enriched Uranium in Uzbekistan Successful: Fuel Returned to Secure Facility in Russia,” September 13, 2004; U.S. Department of Energy website, http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES.
[4] Mike Nartker, “Uzbekistan Returns Reactor Fuel to Russia in Latest U.S.-Funded Mission,” Global Security Newswire, September 14, 2004, Nuclear Threat Initiative website, http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2004_9_14.html.
[5] “Russia May Collect Spent Fuel from Uzbek Scientific Reactor in 2005,” Interfax, August 5, 2004.
[6] “Russia, U.S. Sign Spent Nuclear Fuel Agreement,” Interfax, May 27, 2004.
[7] “Remarks Prepared for Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham,” International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, May 26, 2004, U.S. Department of Energy website, http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES.
[8] “Research Reactor Database,” International Atomic Energy Agency website, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb.
[9] U.S. Department of Energy, Russia/NIS Nuclear Material Security Task Force, Improving Nuclear Materials Security at the Institute of Nuclear Physics--Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Washington, DC, June 1997), U.S. Department of Energy Material Protection, Control and Accounting Program website, . [10] L. E. Romesburg, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Washington, DC, June 1997), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation website, http://www.nn.doe.gov/.../nibs051.htm.
[11] “The Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences,” Cooperative Monitoring Center website, http://www.cmc.sandia.gov/Central/InstituteNucPhysics.htm.
[12] E. P. Ryazantsev, et. al., “Testing of the IRT-4M Type FA with LEU UO2-Al Fuel in WWR-CM Reactor,” paper presented at the 1998 International RERTR Meeting, October 18-23, 1998, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Argonne National Lab Technology Development Division website, http://www.td.anl.gov/.../PDF/Egor00.pdf.

	Updated July 2008