Russia urges continued cooperation with USA

Russia and the USA have a "special responsibility" to ensure the safety and security of nuclear materials, preventing them from falling into the hands of terrorist organizations, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said today.

As part of this effort, Russia has to date received back from 14 countries fresh and irradiated highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel from research reactors for downblending, which has "eliminated the risk of the unauthorized use" of such material, it added. Russia also plans to receive back HEU fuel from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Poland. Since 2002, Russia has received back 2136 kg of HEU fuel.

"We firmly believe that the use of nuclear energy is a long-term strategic area [that] cannot and should not depend on changes to the political situation. We'll be ready for the resumption of cooperation when the American side is ready, strictly on the basis, of course, of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect," Rosatom said.

Russia is the only country that has down blended 500 metric tons of HEU fuel to low enriched uranium fuel that can be used in civil nuclear energy programs, Rosatom said.

In November 2013 Russia reportedly told the USA that it was planning to reduce its participation in 2014 in a joint effort to secure nuclear materials on Russian territory. Rosatom director general Sergey Kirienko was said to have told senior officials in US President Barack Obama's administration that no new projects in Russia are "envisioned" in 2015.

Then, in April 2014, Rosatom said the US Department of Energy had announced it had suspended a number of joint civil nuclear energy projects with Russia because of Russia's "actions in Ukraine", meaning Russia's annexation of Crimea. And in May 2014 a joint cooperation program begun only ten months previously was suspended, said Rosatom, "on the initiative of the American side."

But in September, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told the 58th session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency that the USA would not refuse to cooperate with Russia on nuclear safety or in the areas of nuclear power and research.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News