Washington (Platts)--6May2008

The US and Russia on Tuesday signed an agreement to set a framework for
nuclear trade and cooperation, Russian and US officials said.

Sergey Kiriyenko, the director general of Russian state corporation
Rosatom, and William Burns, the US ambassador to Russia, signed the agreement
in Moscow.

On the US side, President Bush now submits the agreement to Congress for
review. The pact does not require an affirmative vote of Congress and can go
into effect after 90 days of so-called "continuous" congressional
session -- about the amount of time left in Congress' calendar for 2008.

Congress could also pass a resolution of approval, with or without
conditions, or a resolution of disapproval.

Some congressional staffers have indicated strong reservations about the
agreement, mainly because of Russia's relations with Iran.

The pact was initialed last summer by Bush and Russian President Vladimir
Putin. The Tuesday signing comes one day before Putin steps down from the
presidency.

--Daniel Horner, daniel_horner@platts.com