New facility to dispose of nuke material

AKTAU, Kazakhstan, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The United States and Kazakhstan have completed a new facility to dispose of nuclear material in a multiyear plan to counter nuclear proliferation.

Leaders from the U.S. State Department and Kazakhstan announced the completed construction of a sodium processing facility in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Officials say the new facility is designed for disposing of coolant material from the core of a Soviet-era BN-350 fast breeder reactor, the State Department reported.

The processing plant is part of an effort to decommission the former Soviet nuclear facility and strengthen measures to prevent nuclear proliferation. "This (facility) demonstrates and reinforces the strength of the United States-Kazakhstani strategic relationship, and our joint commitment to preventing the proliferation of nuclear materials," the release said.

The sodium processing facility was constructed using money from the State Department's Non-proliferation and Disarmament Fund. Officials say experts from the U.S. Department of Energy, Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom, among others, collaborated on the project.