The Danube Program () was a secret Romanian project to develop their own

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s. The project began in 1978, and lasted until 1989.

History

In 1970 the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

ratified the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

, which banned them from developing and building their own nuclear weapons. However, from 1978 until 1989, Romania had a nuclear weapons program, including

plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...

extraction facilities. The program started concomitantly with the project for the first nuclear power plant of Romania. It was carried out in secrecy at the from

Măgurele Măgurele is a town situated in the southwestern part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. It has a population of 14,414 as of 2021 and hosts several research institutes. In 2024, new buses were donated from the Voluntari district. It is rapidly ...

, where a VVR-S-60

research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritim ...

had been built between the years 1955 and 1957 by a joint Romanian-Soviet team. From 1980, the reactor used S-36 type highly enriched nuclear fuel. In 1992, after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

, the new government reported the infraction to the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

voluntarily, who then reported it to the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. The Măgurele reactor was shut down in 1997 and closed in 2002, with the used

enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (23 ...

returned to Russia in 2009 and 2012.

Materials

Romania acquired

Highly Enriched Uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

(HEU) from

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...

program, which gave highly enriched

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

to many countries. The project also made use of a

TRIGA TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) is a class of nuclear research reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA, which included Edward Teller, was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson. Design ...

nuclear reactor, that had been given to them by the United States, to create

from the HEU. Although the project succeeded in creating plutonium, it did not actually construct any nuclear bombs, although it is estimated that with the materials the project had, they could have made up to 240 plutonium bombs, assuming that of plutonium would be used for every bomb. According to Ionuț Purica, former director of the Nuclear and Radioactive Waste Agency, of plutonium were extracted from the Măgurele reactor in the 1980s. With this amount, Romania could have manufactured six nuclear bombs.

References

{{Reflist, 2 1978 establishments in Romania 1989 disestablishments in Romania Secret military programs Nuclear weapons programs Socialist Republic of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu

History

Materials

See also

References