Russia to process German uranium

About 300 kg of uranium from a long-closed reactor in the former East Germany has been airlifted to Russia for processing. The Uranium will be delivered to a processing centre at Podolsk outside Moscow.

In the early hours of Monday morning, under heavy police protection, a silver truck brought 18 containers of uranium to Dresden airport. They were loaded aboard a waiting Russian transport plane. For security reasons, the operation was kept under wraps until the last moment. 

Nuclear waste shipments have frequently met with protests in Germany but the journey to the airport passed without incident. Some demonstrators tried to block a traffic circle with vehicles, but the truck took a detour. 

The shipment took place in accordance with the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Programme, which aims to reduce stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.