05/06/2008

News / United States, Russia Sign Civil Nuclear Pact

Agreement permits civilian trade in nuclear materials.
By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington -- Once nuclear rivals but today partners, the United States and Russia have signed an agreement to allow the development of nuclear energy for civilian purposes, expand trade and strengthen efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

President Bush approved the agreement May 5, and it was signed by U.S. Ambassador William Burns and Rosatom Director Sergey Kiriyenko May 6 in Moscow. Rosatom is Russia's state nuclear corporation.

Bush and then-Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to the deal in 2006 at the St. Petersburg Group of Eight Summit.

"The United States and Russia were once nuclear rivals, we are today nuclear partners," Burns said, according to a Reuters news report. "What this agreement allows us to do is to implement some very creative ideas that both Russia and the United States have put forward to deal with the growing challenge of proliferation of nuclear weapons."

The president will submit the agreement to Congress for approval, which has 90 days to act. If Congress does not act within 90 days, then the agreement will go into effect. The Russian parliament also must approve the measure.

The 123 Agreement, called that because it falls under Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, is required before the countries can cooperate on civilian nuclear trade.

After the signing ceremony, Kiriyenko said that "the signing of this agreement opens a gigantic field of opportunities for the economic cooperation in the large and growing businesses linked to the civilian use of nuclear energy."

The agreement will allow U.S. and Russian nuclear energy companies to partner in joint ventures and allow nuclear materials to move back and forth between the countries, the State Department said.

"By expanding the ties between our government and our nuclear industries, this agreement will add to the strength and stability of the U.S.-Russia relationship as we confront the global challenges of the 21st century," the State Department said May 6.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said May 6 that this agreement "advances U.S.-Russia nonproliferation and civil nuclear energy cooperation goals."

"It will also pave the way for further cooperation under both bilateral and multilateral programs and initiatives on nuclear energy and nonproliferation, such as the July 3, 2007, Declaration on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership," she said.

The agreement paves the way for the commercial sale of civil nuclear commodities to Russia by U.S. companies and provides for expanded trade, Perino said.

"You cannot overestimate the importance of this agreement because it opens up the giant North American market for nuclear materials to Russian companies," Vladimir Yevseyev, a senior researcher at the Moscow Centre for International Security, told Reuters.

Negotiations on the U.S.-Russian agreement that were begun in October 2006 were completed in April 2007 after talks in Washington, Moscow and Vienna, Austria. The agreement was sent to Washington and Moscow for final review before signing. It has a term of 30 years and permits the transfer of technology, material, equipment and components for nuclear research and nuclear power production, the State Department said.

http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/May/20080506141240dmslahrellek0.7348139.html

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