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Russia Seeks to Lift U.S. Uranium Price Controls
From Thursday, April 5, 2007 issue.
U.S. and Russian officials met this week in Moscow to discuss U.S. tariffs on Russian uranium imports (see GSN, July 17, 2006). The tariffs have been imposed since the 1990s to address U.S. accusations that Russia was seeking to sell its uranium at below-market, or price-dumping rates, the Russia and CIS Business and Financial Newswire reported. The United States does not apply the 112 percent tariff to Russian uranium produced from former nuclear weapons under the Megatons to Megawatts program, but that effort is schedule to end in 2013 and Russia is hoping to maintain its foothold in U.S. markets, the newswire reported. Russian nuclear agency head Sergei Kiriyenko discussed the issue this week with U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in Moscow. Serious discussions on the issue began last year, according to the newswire. U.S. power plants should “have a chance to sign long-term contracts, to choose their suppliers, and should not depend on the same supplier,” he said. “There should be competition, and we are willing to join in it.” “We support the idea of working out such decisions [to lift the restrictions] via mechanisms of agreements. Our cooperation should be based on trust, whereas court rulings help solve commercial problems but do not serve to build up trust,” Kiriyenko added. About half the nuclear fuel in U.S. power plants comes from uranium blended down from Russian nuclear weapons, and Russia has offered to reduce that portion to one-quarter in exchange for lifting the tariff, the newswire reported (Russia and CIS Business and Financial Newswire, April 4).
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2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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