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Megatons to Megawatts Program

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The Megatons to Megawatts Program is the name given the program implementing the 1993 United States-Russia nonproliferation agreement to convert high-enriched uranium taken from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons into low-enriched-uranium for nuclear fuel.

From 1995 through mid-2005, 250 metric tons of high-enriched uranium (enough for 10,000 warheads) were recycled into low-enriched-uranium. The goal is to recycle 500 metric tons by 2013. Much of this fuel has already been used in many nuclear power plants in the U.S., as it is indistinguishable form normal fuel.

USEC is the U.S. Executive Agent for this program. Based on mid-2005 market prices, USEC estimates it will pay Russia nearly $8 billion for the enrichment component of the low-enriched-uranium.

See also


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