Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2009
Controversy over depleted uranium shipments to Russia
Greenpeace criticized Urenco's arrangements with Russia as radioactive-waste disposal. Industry accounts described them instead as sales of depleted uranium tails for re-enrichment, under which Russia retained the waste produced by the process. The transport of a major shipment from Germany to Seversk generated public protests.
1985
United Nations legal action over Namibian uranium
The United Nations Council for Namibia initiated legal proceedings alleging that Urenco had breached a UN decree by using uranium originating from the Rössing mine while Namibia was under South African administration. Urenco and the Dutch government disputed the ability to identify the precise origin of particular consignments and argued that the relevant circumstances did not establish the alleged breach.
1970
Abdul Qadeer Khan centrifuge-technology theft
Abdul Qadeer Khan obtained confidential gas-centrifuge drawings while working for a subcontractor associated with Urenco in Almelo and transferred them to Pakistan. The information became important to Pakistan's uranium-enrichment program and exposed the proliferation risks surrounding the international movement of sensitive enrichment expertise.