By Kerry Boyd
Global Security Newswire

Russia and Iran are nearing a formal agreement to return spent nuclear fuel from Iranian reactors for reprocessing and storage in Russia, Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said Friday at a Moscow press conference (see GSN, July 12).

Some work remains and relevant agencies are studying an amendment to the intergovernmental agreement on two nuclear reactors that Russia is helping build at Bushehr in Iran, he said.

Such a provision had not been included in the original contract because at the time there had been “no [Russian] legislative amendment allowing the import of spent nuclear fuel for storage and processing,” he said.

The Moscow Times reported last week that legislation passed in the early 1990s had banned nuclear waste imports, but Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation in July 2001 to allow such imports.

“Work to enact the law is drawing to an end.  In order to make this law effective, it was necessary to issue six governmental resolutions and set up a special commission for working out recommendations regarding the import of spent nuclear fuel from abroad,” Rumyantsev said.

Meanwhile, construction on the first nuclear reactor at Bushehr “is drawing to an end,” Rumyantsev said (see GSN, April 5).  “Heavy equipment is being supplied there now.  The casing of the reactor has been supplied, the piping, the pumps.  The turbine will be delivered in August,” he said.

Plans currently include a second nuclear reactor, and might include up to four reactor units in the future, Rumyantsev said.  Beyond the reactors, he said, “there is no more work with Iran.”

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