The International Atomic Energy Agency will support the governments of Jamaica and the United States in converting the Caribbean’s only research reactor from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel later this year, according to an IAEA press release. Housed in Jamaica, the fuel will be returned to the U.S. “The additional capacity will allow us to expand research work related to food safety, food security, water and air quality,” said Charles Grant, Director General of the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) at the University of West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. “With the additional capacity we will be able to accommodate the research needs of other countries” from the Caribbean. The conversion is part of global efforts to eliminate HEU-related risks while maintaining scientific research. Throughout the last three decades, Jamaica has operated a 20-kilowatt research reactor at the University of the West Indies with results in environmental, agricultural, and health-related studies, mineral exploration, as well as in education and training, according to the release.
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