26 May 2004 07:04
Russia, U.S. to sign uranium repatriation agreement on Thursday
MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States are planning to sign an intergovernmental agreement on
Thursday on cooperation in the return of fuel from Russian-made scientific reactors abroad.
The Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency reports the agreement will be signed by agency director Alexander Rumyantsev
and U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.
"The agreement's implementation is meant to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms and reduce the threat
of international terrorism through cutting down the storage zones of nuclear materials that may be used for the
production of nuclear weapons," the agency press release says.
He said Russia has built reactors in 17 countries and 13 of them
have expressed their intent to join the project. He said it is a
Agency spokesman Nikolai Shingaryov told Interfax that the agreement implies partial U.S. funding of the program.
However, he failed to name the sum the United States will assign to the program.
On Wednesday, Abraham said the United States is planning to spend about $450 million.
Shingaryov's comment on the announcement was: "I have no information about what the sum will be spent on. I
don't think it will only be on fuel repatriation. The initiative is broader."
question of returning fuel made of high-enriched uranium both fresh (from reactors switching to low-enriched uranium)
and spent.
Earlier, Russia along with the United States and the IAEA repatriated fresh nuclear fuel from Serbia, Romania,
Bulgaria and Libya, Shingaryov said.
The press release says U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow will also attend the Thursday meeting.
Shingaryov did not say what other subjects would be discussed. "It is hard to tell before the beginning of the
meeting. There are American proposals and there are our proposals," he said adding that Russia and the Untied
States are not planning any new agreements. [RU EUROPE ASIA EEU EMRG ELG US] ml tj <>
[Interfax] |
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