Secret mission recovers uranium from Uzbekistan

VOA News September 14 The U.S. Energy Department says 11 kilograms of enriched uranium fuel were removed last week from Uzbekistan, whose government is facing unrest from Muslim extremists. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham says the uranium was airlifted to the Russian city of Dmitrovgrad in a secret mission carried out by the U.S., Russian and Uzbek governments. The fuel, which Mr. Abraham says could be used to make nuclear weapons, had been brought to Uzbekistan during Soviet times. Mr. Abraham called its recovery "an important milestone" in a U.S.-led effort to recover nuclear and radiological materials so they do not fall into the hands of terrorists. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has criticized the Bush administration for its nuclear non-proliferation efforts, saying it has done "too little, too late." The Energy Department says last week's operation was the fifth shipment of uranium returned to Russia from abroad over the past two years. The department says in all, it has recovered 96 kilograms of enriched uranium fuel.