Transparency Measures Associated with the U.S./Russian Intergovernmental HEU-TO-LEU Agreement

Under the U.S./Russian Intergovernmental HEU-LEU Agreement, the United States has been purchasing low enriched uranium(LEU) for use as power reactor fuel downblended from 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from dismantle Russian nuclear weapons. The first delivery of LEU arrive at the Portsmouth Gaseaus Diffusion plan in June 1995.Transparency measures prove confidence that the nonproliferation goals of the agreement are met. Transparency procedures, which are detailed in a set of 16 implementing Annexes to the Protocol on Transparency, specify access to storage and processing areas at five Russian facilities that recieve and process the Russian LEU. Transparency has improved as experience has been gained bu U.S. and Russian monitors and as new monitoring technologies have been introduced. This paper summarizes the development of transparency measures bein implemented at U.S. and Russian facilities under the Intergovernmental HEU-LEU Agreement.