Enriched uranium from Germany arrives in Russia

DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - Russian experts working by night removed a large quantity of highly enriched uranium from a Soviet-era reactor in Germany on Monday and flew it to Russia for processing.
Anti-nuclear protesters forced a convoy carrying the material to stop briefly despite efforts to keep the route secret and a heavy police presence.
Some 326 kg (717 lb) of enriched uranium, enough for several bombs, was heading to a processing center in Podolsk, Russia from the former Rossendorf research reactor near Dresden, where the material was stored, U.S. and German officials said.
Moscow's atomic energy agency Rosatom said in a statement on its website that the shipment had arrived in Russia.
Roughly two-thirds of the uranium is highly enriched. In Russia it will be mixed with low-grade uranium to make reactor fuel that no longer represents a proliferation risk.
"This action is an important step toward promoting a global cleanout of HEU (highly enriched uranium) in the civilian sector," said Arnaud Atger, a senior official at the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
"The security of HEU is of particular concern due to the technical feasibility of constructing a crude nuclear explosive device from HEU," he told reporters. Continued...