The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has helped ship 13 kg of high enriched uranium (HEU) from Venezuela to the US in a carefully planned joint mission carried out under tight security.

The uranium – in the form of nuclear fuel enriched to just above 20% of the fissile isotope uranium-235 – was transferred from a shutdown research reactor at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), 15 km southwest of the capital Caracas, to the Savannah River Site of the US Department of Energy in South Carolina.

Such nuclear material can pose a proliferation risk or security threat if it falls into the wrong hands.