Why Was Venezuela’s Highly Enriched Uranium Secretly Transferred to the United States?
On the last night of April, an armored military vehicle set off from Venezuela’s Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC) on the outskirts of Caracas and secretly traveled 160 kilometers to the port city of Puerto Cabello in Carabobo state. The highly confidential nature of this nighttime operation was revealed only days later. The Venezuelan military was safeguarding two stones containing 13 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, which were later transferred to the United States. Venezuela, the US, the UK, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were all involved in this operation. In a statement issued on May 8, the IAEA emphasized that the mission was meticulously planned and carried out with stringent security measures, highlighting the significant risks associated with sensitive nuclear material falling into the wrong hands.
Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is uranium-235 artificially increased to 20 percent or greater. The amount transferred from Venezuela—two stones weighing 13 kilograms—is small compared to the 63 stones amounting to 400 kilograms believed to be in Iran. Nonetheless, Venezuela’s longstanding ties with nations such as Iran, Russia, Cuba, and North Korea have raised concerns with the US and the IAEA. According to Jack Crawford from the Royal United Services Institute, HEU, which has historically been declared for peaceful uses, is removed from countries or non-state actors when there are concerns about potential weapons development.
Crawford explained that the uranium transferred from Venezuela was enriched to only about 20 percent uranium-235. Nuclear weapons typically require weapons-grade uranium enriched to 90 percent or higher, although smaller yields can theoretically be produced with lower enrichment levels. This raises important questions about how Venezuela originally obtained HEU and why it agreed to transfer it to the United States. Some answers can be traced back to a 1953 speech by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the United Nations General Assembly.
During the peak of the Cold War arms race between the US and the Soviet Union, there was widespread fear that nuclear weapons might proliferate to many countries and non-state actors. Eisenhower proposed establishing an international agency to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. He stated, “It is not enough to remove weapons from the military; they must be placed into the hands of those who will transform them from military cover to peaceful endeavors.” Under this vision, countries producing nuclear materials would provide them to this international organization.
The agency’s purpose was to safeguard this material and make it available to scientists researching peaceful applications. Eisenhower’s speech laid the groundwork for establishing the IAEA and advanced the US concept of “Atoms for Peace.” In subsequent years, the US amended its laws to provide nuclear technology, materials, and expertise to countries that committed not to develop nuclear weapons.
As part of this plan, Venezuela received an RV-1 nuclear reactor from the US company General Electric, with a capacity of 3 megawatts. According to the IAEA, the US and the UK supplied the nuclear fuel for it. Installed at Venezuela’s Institute for Scientific Research, inaugurated on November 22, 1960, the reactor was used for research until partially shut down in 1991. Venezuelan officials indicate that fuel components necessary to operate the facility were removed in 1997, resulting in the reactor’s complete shutdown, with remaining materials placed under surveillance.
Following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and the resultant political changes, a new opportunity emerged. The UK government had been working since 2017 to assist Venezuelan officials in removing the remaining uranium material and had been advancing plans to do so. The process appears to have accelerated after Maduro’s arrest in January of this year. Venezuelan officials also claim that a US airstrike, conducted during efforts to detain Maduro, nearly targeted the reactor. On May 7, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Iván Gil stated in a release that the operation increased risk levels and created an urgent need to remove the uranium. The US State Department commented that the action took months but was completed two years earlier than anticipated.
US officials revealed that British nuclear experts led the uranium’s transfer from Venezuela to the Savannah River Site nuclear facility in South Carolina. The freighter Pacific Egret was used for this operation. When it docked in Charleston, South Carolina, the ship temporarily disabled location broadcasts from its satellite systems. High-resolution satellite images confirmed a week later that it was docked in Puerto Cabello. A May 4 photo showed another ship escorting the Pacific Egret, while another image from May 8 recorded the freighter’s presence at the Charleston port.
“This was a highly coordinated effort with strict security measures maintained at all times,” the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation stated. It was an exceptionally complex and carefully planned operation and part of a larger process. Most research reactors built during the 1960s and 1970s required highly enriched uranium; today, many use low-enriched uranium or have been shut down. The IAEA notes that about 100 research reactors and medical isotope production centers worldwide have replaced highly enriched uranium with low-enriched uranium or ceased operations. Approximately 1,102 stones (7,000 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium have either been returned to their countries of origin or destroyed. Nuclear power plants that generate electricity typically operate using low-enriched uranium.