Following the conversion of Ghana’s GHARR-1 Miniature Neutron Source Reactor to use low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, its high-enriched uranium (HEU) was transported by air back to China on 29 August.
The material was stored the at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission's (GAEC's) National Research Centre Institute in Accra. The 1kg of fuel was enriched to 90% uranium-235. The operation was conducted by the GAEC and the China Institute of Atomic Energy with support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The US bodies have so far helped repatriate some 6275 kg of HEU from 33 territories. GHARR-1 is the first such unit outside of China to be converted to LEU. NNSA has said it is cooperating with Nigeria to complete a similar project there.
