Mexico agrees to give up highly enriched uranium

April 13, 2010 | 9:26 am

The nations of North America said they will work to eliminate highly enriched uranium from Mexico’s research reactors, an effort to protect against the proliferation of nuclear materials, the White House announced on Tuesday.

The agreement was announced on the second day of the nuclear summit, a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s recent efforts to curb nuclear weapons and their spread. Highly enriched uranium is needed to produce a weapon.

“The conversion of the reactor’s use of highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium fuel will enable the elimination of all the remaining highly enriched uranium from Mexico. This effort ... will further strengthen nuclear security on the North American continent,â€