Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is a material of significant security concernbecause of its abundance, relative ease of use in a terrorist nuclear weapon,and distribution around the world. Large amounts of HEU for civilian andmilitary purposes exist in many countries. The bulk of this HEU is located inthe US and Russia, though significant stockpiles are also found in many otherstates. Support for minimization of civilian HEU is growing - this has beenreflected at the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference andthe 2010 Nuclear Security Summit. In addition to reducing the threat of aterrorist acquiring the material, HEU minimization is important as a nonproliferationconcern, to advance international cooperation on the peacefuluses of nuclear energy and to support nuclear disarmament. Great progress inminimization of HEU stocks and utilization has been achieved in the pastdecade, including the conversion of HEU-fueled reactors to LEU, thedevelopment of low enriched uranium (LEU) processes to replace those usingHEU and cooperative efforts such as the US-Russian HEU blend-downprogram (Megatons to Megawatts). Taking into account technical progress ofthe last decade, and the changed political landscape, the time has come tobegin discussing HEU elimination from the civil sector and seriously consideropportunities for minimization in the military, non-weapons sector. In orderto develop a future HEU minimization agenda, it is important to review theprogress made and scope of efforts to date, assess remaining challenges andidentify possible new measures to address them. While there may remaindifferences on pace and priority of HEU minimization and elimination efforts,there is a robust and growing consensus on the principle. It is theresponsibility of all stakeholders to seize the moment, broaden the consensusand make commitments irreversible.
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