Serbia Nuke Material Shipment

Independent Films, Web Series, Technology, Politics

A leftover from time of President Tito of Jugoslavia (Yugoslavia) and Communist Party Secretary Nikita Kruschev Soviet Union, nuclear material is now shipped back to Russia.

With Serbian President Boris Tadic offering last minute support, the International Atomic Energy Agency characterized it as a race between cooperation and catastophe as the UN's nuclear watchdog supervised the return of two-and-half-tons of highly radioactive nuclear material from Serbia to a secure Russian facility at Mayak.

Eight years in the planning the mission took three days to accomplish and is the largest single removal project undertaken to date--eight thousand fuel rods--as a part of a program to repatriate nuclear material to the nations that originally supplied it.

The material originated at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, a Serbian nuclear research reactor outside Belgrade where it posed potential security and envrionmental threats. The former Soviet Union built and fuelled the 6.5 megawatt nuclear research reactor in the 1950's when the United States and Soviet Union provided highly enriched uranium to other countries to be used in research reactors.

The shipment ends a potential threat to international peace and security as the enriched uranium could be very dangerous if stolen and used for dirty bombs or even nuclear weapons. Technicians at Mayak will separate the still-usable uranium from the spent fuel and store the remaining nuclear waste for future safe disposal.

The Serbian nuclear material became the focus of regional and international concern following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, particularly during the 1990's outbreak of war in Bosnia. At the time it was feared that the Serbian nuclear resources could be transformed into weapons and some speculate that this uncertainty acted as a deterent for more aggressive action against Slobodan Milosevic.

There is confirmed evidence that Milosevic's army employed chemical style weapons to disorient, if not kill during the onslaught of Srebrenica and throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts

Sam Nunn, CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI):
“We are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe. In this case cooperation won, cooperation between the United States and Russia and Serbia and the IAEA, and even a nongovernmental organization like NTI. So the good guys won this time, but it’s an example of what we have to do all over the world.”
32. Med shot, train leaving the station

STORYLINE:

Two-and-a-half tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear spent fuel arrived at a secure Russian facility in November after a multinational project performed by Serbia and coordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The material was removed from a Serbian nuclear research reactor where it posed potential security and environmental threats. This was the largest single shipment of spent nuclear fuel made under an international programme to repatriate such material to the nations that originally supplied it.

SOUNDBITE (English) John Kelly, Project Manager, IAEA.
“This particular shipment has 8,030 fuel elements being repatriated. Now this is the largest single shipment that's being made at one time back to Russia. This is also the largest project of its type in the IAEA for Technical Cooperation history.”

The delivery of the fuel ends the project to repatriate fuel from the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences outside Belgrade, where the Soviet Union had built and fuelled a 6.5-megawatt nuclear research reactor in the 1950s. The project began in 2002 when fresh highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel was transferred to Russia, and today's shipment consisted of over 8,000 spent fuel elements, including 13 kilogrammes of HEU.

SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano Director General of the IAEA:
“In the past, the United States and Soviet Union provided highly enriched uranium to other countries to be used in research reactors. HEU or highly enriched uranium could be very dangerous because if it is stolen, that can be used for dirty bombs or even nuclear weapons.”

At the last minute, Serbian President Boris Tadic arrived to give his support to this important convoy. The shipment ends more than a decade of work to move the reactor's fuel rods to Russia, which has the facilities to store the material safely and securely.

After years of planning and preparation, the Vinca project came down to a final three-day odyssey.

SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano Director General of the IAEA:
“Vinca Project was a very important one by various reasons. First, the amount was huge. It involves some three tons of spent fuel. It comprises of more than eight thousand fuel rods. It accompanies risk of environmental accident. Unfortunately, in the past, the storage condition was poor, but the current leaders recognized this risk and decided to repatriate to Russia.”

In the pre-dawn light, crews readied the train for departure. The train rumbles 800 kilometers through Hungary and across Slovenia before this cargo ship can set sail for its three week, 8,000-kilometer journey to Russia's arctic port of Murmansk As the ship leaves the dock, relief washes over all those who worked so hard, and Serbia looks to the future.

SOUNDBITE (English) Igor Bolshinsky, U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration:
“HEU is a main component of a nuclear device, of a nuclear explosive device. So, it’s why the whole world is working for non-proliferation of this material so it cannot be used by the bad guys for building nuclear devices.”

The latest fuel transfer began on 18 November, when 16 shipping containers holding the fuel were loaded onto heavy cargo trucks at the Vinca Institute. Using trucks and trains, the convoy traversed Serbia, Hungary, and Slovenia under heavy security before arriving on 21 November at the Slovenian port of Koper. There, crews loaded the containers onto a cargo ship which then began a three-week journey to Russia's arctic port at Murmansk. Back on rails, the fuel moved to Russia's reprocessing facility at Mayak, where technicians will separate the still-usable uranium from the spent fuel and store the remaining nuclear waste for future safe disposal.

SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Nunn, CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI):
“We are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe. In this case cooperation won, cooperation between the United States and Russia and Serbia and the IAEA, and even a nongovernmental organization like NTI. So the good guys won this time, but it’s an example of what we have to do all over the world.”

The IAEA has actively participated in efforts to repatriate research reactor fuel, including transfers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Libya, Romania, and Vietnam. In addition, the IAEA is supporting efforts to help nations convert their research reactors to use low enriched uranium fuel.

Tags

• Serbia
• Nuclear
• Nuke
• Terrorism

Directors:

• Tom Osborne, UNTV

Producers:

• Susan Sacirbey