Dresden
Russian nuclear experts extracted hundreds of pounds of highly enriched uranium from a Soviet-era reactor in Germany this week and flew it to Russia for reprocessing. The Russians worked at night, to avoid detection by terrorists or protestors. Protected by a convoy of 40 police vehicles and 1,000 officers, they transported the uranium to the Dresden airport. A few dozen anti-nuclear protestors, who said the consequences of an accident were too grave to risk transport, did manage to find the route and briefly blocked the convoy before being arrested. Under a program sponsored jointly by the U.S. and Russia, the uranium will be mixed with low-grade fuel to create reactor fuel that can’t be used in bombs.
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