Washington (Platts)--28Jan2008

Officials from the US Department of Commerce and the Russian Federal
Atomic Energy Agency are expected to sign later this week an amendment to the
1992 Russian uranium suspension agreement, Platts has learned.

The final language of the amendment, several sources said, will be
virtually identical to the draft document Commerce published for public
comment on December 4.

Sources said that Commerce at a January 25 meeting told representatives
of the original petitioners in the Russian antidumping case that any problems
with the amendment would be handled administratively or by the administration
supporting legislation to overturn several recent trade court decisions over
uranium enrichment services.

But Commerce was insistent that the petitioners -- US uranium mining
companies and the union that represents workers at USEC's enrichment
facilities -- sign "irrevocable" letters withdrawing at the end of 2020 their
original antidumping petition.

Sources said that Commerce argued that not signing the letters and
postponing a final signing of the suspension agreement amendment would usher
in a period of great uncertainty in the market. And, as one source put it, the
nuclear market, which many believe is poised to grow, does not need more
uncertainty.

The amendment to the Russian suspension agreement would, among other
things, set new limits on how much low-enriched uranium Russia can export to
the US from 2011 to 2020, the year the suspension agreement would end. It also
would allow Russia to sell without limits low-enriched uranium for initial
cores to US utilities building new reactors.

The export limits in the draft agreement would begin to have the greatest
market effect in 2014 when Russia would be allowed to export 485,279 kilograms
of LEU, an amount equivalent to about 12.65 million pounds U3O8 and about 2.93
million separative work units, a measure of enrichment services.

--Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com