Project Sapphire was the first mission of its kind. In 1994, three massive C-5 Galaxy cargo planes were dispatched to Kazakhstan, carrying 31 specialists from the Departments of Defense and Energy. The teams brought 450 drums built to transport nuclear cargo and strong enough to survive a plane crash. The mission successfully removed more than 1,300 pounds of bomb-grade uranium and transported it to the United States. “It was all done in utmost secrecy. A team of over 30 people working for about five or six weeks to finish this packaging operation. It didn't leak, and nobody knew they were even there,” says Andrew Weber, a foreign service officer at the time. #sovietunion #uranium #ushistory #foreignpolicy