“Together we've done a great deal in returning fuel from third countries. But it is right that we set an example in our countries, too,” Rosatom general director Sergei Kiriyenko said as he signed the deal with U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in Moscow.
This is the first time Russia has committed to replacing the weapons-grade fuel in its own research reactors under a U.S. led program to secure the world's vulnerable nuclear materials, even though it has taken a lead role in repatriating fuel from other countries.
There are an estimated 120 to 130 research reactors in the world that are fueled by weapons-grade uranium, about half of which are in Russia. Fearing that terrorists could use stolen material to make a bomb, the United States has been sponsoring a drive to convert reactors to use less-enriched fuel.
Kiriyenko said the feasibility studies would examine the economic implications of converting six research reactors to low-grade fuel. He declined to set a date by which the process of conversion might be completed.
The Rosatom chief said Russia and the United States had so far been concentrating on repatriating fuel from countries with more vulnerable facilities, together importing 2,700 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, which he said was enough to make 112 warheads.
Nuclear security expert Matthew Bunn hailed the deal as “important progress,” but said it had been “a long time coming.”
“I would like to have seen by now actual action on the ground to convert quite a number of these reactors, which are plainly feasible to convert. But it's better than nothing,” said Bunn, who publishes an annual report titled "Securing the Bomb" and is a former advisor to the U.S. government on nuclear security. More at
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/moscow-washington-reach-uranium-deal/425867.html
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