Serbia to ship 3 tons nuke waste to Russia

BELGRADE, Serbia, June 10 (UPI) -- Serbia will transport three tons of used nuclear fuel from its Nuclear Research Institute at Vinca, outside Belgrade, to Russia, officials said Wednesday.

The removal of the nuclear waste to Russia should delete Serbia from the list of possible targets for international terrorists, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic told reporters in Belgrade.

Djelic and Sergey Kiriyenko, director of the Russian Rosatom company, signed an agreement in Belgrade on the transport of the nuclear waste to Russia.

The Vinca institute was closed in 2003.

Kiriyenko said special equipment is being shipped to Serbia and will be assembled in July. The nuclear waste will be packed in special containers in the fall.

The nuclear waste transport was organized by the governments of Serbia and Russia, the United States and the International Agency for Atomic Energy, the Serbian news agency Beta reported.