Secretary Abraham and Minister Rumyantsev Sign Joint Statement on the Return of Russian Research Reactor Fuel

11/7/2003

From: Jeanne Lopatto, 202-586-4940 or Bryan Wilkes, 202-586-7371; both of the Energy Department

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 -- Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and the Minister of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev signed a joint statement today to repatriate Russian-origin high-enriched uranium (HEU) research reactor fuel to Russia. The joint statement is the latest step in nonproliferation discussions and demonstrates the relationship of cooperation and progress between the U.S. and Russia.

"The Joint Statement that we are signing today reaffirms our common objective of reducing, and to the extent possible, ultimately eliminating the use of highly enriched uranium in civil nuclear activity," Secretary Abraham said.

"The goal of minimizing international commerce in HEU has long been a pillar of U.S. nonproliferation policy," Secretary Abraham said. "This program exemplifies the strength of the U.S and Russian Federation partnership to reduce the threat of terrorism and prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction."

The U.S. and the Russian Federation, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), began work on fuel return in December 1999. The program was designed to support the return of Soviet or Russian supplied fresh and irradiated HEU fuel, currently stored at foreign research reactors, to the Russian Federation.

"Under this program, we are focusing our efforts on repatriating Russian-supplied fuel from more than 20 research reactors in 17 countries," Secretary Abraham said. "Moreover, we plan to convert these targeted research reactors so that they use low-enriched uranium fuel instead of HEU."

Fuel return efforts are well under way, according to Secretary Abraham. In September 2003, Russia accepted approximately 14 kilograms of fresh Russian-origin HEU from Romania. The HEU was airlifted from Bucharest, Romania to Russia where it is waiting to be down-blended and used for nuclear power plant fuel fabrication. The U.S. and Russia also reached an agreement on the next fresh fuel shipment, which is planned to be implemented by the end of this year.

The Joint Statement is one of the final steps to a bilateral agreement on repatriation of research reactor fuel.

"Our governments have completed negotiations on a bilateral agreement under which more then a dozen other countries will become eligible to ship their fresh and spent research reactor fuel to Russia for safe and secure disposition," Secretary Abraham said. "I am delighted to report that this agreement will soon be finalized and signed."

The signing concludes a four-day visit by Minister Rumyansev with Secretary Abraham which included visits to the Partnerships for Prosperity and Security Trade Show in Philadelphia and to the United Nations First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in New York City.

The text of the joint statement is as follows:

JOINT STATEMENT of U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Minister of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev on Cooperation to Transfer Russian-origin High-Enriched Uranium Research Reactor Fuel to the Russian Federation:

The U.S. Department of Energy and MinAtom of Russia recognize the great significance of cooperation in the issue of transferring high enriched uranium (HEU) research reactor fuel of Russian origin to the Russian Federation as a mutual contribution to the reduction of global stockpiles of weapons-usable nuclear materials and, therefore, to reducing the threat of international terrorism and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Such cooperation, which is being implemented with the active involvement of the International Atomic Energy Agency, supports the objective of transferring to the Russian Federation fresh and spent HEU fuel from research reactors currently located in research centers of 17 foreign countries. An important component of this activity is the conversion of such research reactors from HEU to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel when a suitable LEU fuel has been qualified. To this end, we are jointly developing LEU fuel.

HEU can be directly used in manufacturing nuclear weapons. Our common objective consists of reducing, to the greatest extent possible, and, ultimately, eliminating the use of such materials in civilian nuclear activity.

We have real examples of cooperation in this area. Two shipments of Russian-origin fresh HEU research reactor fuel to Russia have taken place. We have already started preparations for the next fresh HEU shipment. Preparations also are in progress for the transfer of spent HEU fuel from Uzbekistan to Russia. Completion of a bilateral Government-to-Government Agreement under which more than a dozen other countries will become eligible to ship their fresh and spent research reactor fuel to Russia for safe and secure disposition is in its final stages. It is expected that this Agreement will be signed shortly.

By the end of the year, we intend to conduct bilateral consultations between MinAtom of Russia and the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a schedule for all remaining potential shipments of fresh and irradiated HEU fuel.

Signed at Washington, DC, in duplicate, this 7th day of Nov., 2003, in the English and Russian languages.

U.S. Secretary of Energy S. Abraham

Minister of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy A.Yu. Rumyantsev