WASHINGTON, Oct 7: Germany has returned more than nine kilograms of highly enriched uranium fuel to the US for safeguarding from terrorists or potential misuse, the government said on Tuesday.

The National Nuclear Security Administration said the spent fuel shipment was transported by ship and rail under secret and secure conditions. Spokeswoman Casey Ruberg said the material was secured at a site in the southern state of South Carolina on Sept 23.

Overall, nearly 52 kilograms of spent fuel, originally provided by the United States for use in research reactors, has been returned to the United States from Argentina, Portugal, Romania and Germany during the past year, the agency said.

Other fuel is being returned to Russia from civilian sites as part of a joint program with the US to replace highly enriched uranium _ which can be used in a weapon _ with low enriched uranium that cannot be diverted.

Forty-five shipments of 1,179 kilograms of US-origin fuel has been returned to the US from 27 countries since the 1990s.—AP