Ukraine Wants to Begin Uranium Enrichment

Ukraine announced Friday that it wants to produce its own uranium fuel for nuclear power plants, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 1, 2005).

“We must change our uranium policy — our policy on the use of uranium for peaceful purposes,” said President Viktor Yushchenko. “We must cooperate with international allies on a serious political and economic level so that we can have a full cycle of processing and production of nuclear fuel.”

The announcement follows a dispute with neighboring Russia over natural gas supplies, AP reported.

However, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has proposed a moratorium on building new uranium enrichment facilities (see GSN Feb. 2, 2005), while the United States has proposed limiting such technology to those countries that already employ it (see GSN, March 15, 2005).

Potential political instability in Ukraine could raise concerns about the country having access to the fuel cycle, said Edwin Lyman, senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (Maria Danilova, Associated Press/Washington Post, Jan. 13).

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