$5.5m to "disarm" reactor in Pitesti

The Romanian authorities will invest $5.5 million to convert the research reactor in Pitesti by 2006, so that it would run on low enriched uranium by then instead of enriched uranium as it does now, said Lucian Biro, chairman of the National Commission for Control of Nuclear Activities (CNCAN). “The conversion of the Triga-type reactor in Pitesti is half done, and the completion of this operation by 2006 will see another $5.5 million invested. To fund this operation, the US Department of Energy contributed $4 million, the International Atomic Energy Agency came up with another $200,000 and the Romanian party takes care of the rest. The total cost of the operation is in excess of $7 million,” Biro said. He specified the operation to convert the reactor to make it run on low enriched uranium (concentration of less than 20%) instead of enriched uranium was decided after 1990, when the American and Romanian authorities discussed this issue. “Romania and the United States signed a co-operation agreement on fighting weapons of mass-destruction in 1998-1999. The American policy as far as the nuclear sector goes is to have low enriched uranium powering research reactors worldwide so that it cannot be used for making atomic bombs,” Biro explains. ZF