U.S., Russia sign agreement for nuclear research and development
September 20, 2013 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Director General of the Russian Federation State Corporation "Rosatom" Sergey Kirienko have signed an agreement between the government of the United States of America and the government of the Russian Federation for cooperation in nuclear and energy-related scientific research and development.
The agreement provides the legal framework necessary to expand cooperation between U.S. and Russian nuclear research laboratories, institutes, and facilities in a broad range of areas, including nuclear technology, nonproliferation, fundamental and applied science, energy, and environment. It complements provisions of the U.S. Russian Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, which came into force in January 2011 and opened new opportunities to work together on a wide range of nuclear issues. "This agreement supports President Obama's nonproliferation and climate priorities by providing a venue for scientific collaboration and relationship-building between the U.S. and Russian research and technical communities," said Energy Secretary Moniz in a statement. "Jointly, these communities will work to further develop advanced technologies that can address some of our most pressing nuclear energy and nuclear security challenges." Potential projects could include international safeguards, establishment of a Multi-Purpose Fast Research Reactor International Research Center, and irradiation of fuels and materials in the fast-spectrum research reactor "BOR-60." The U.S. and Russia have a long history of cooperation on nonproliferation, nuclear security and nuclear energy. This new framework builds upon the success of the 1992 Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Concerning the Safe and Secure Transportation, Storage and Destruction of Weapons and the Prevention of Weapons Proliferation, commonly known as the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Umbrella Agreement, which expired in June 2013. For more: Sign up for our FREE newsletter for more news like this sent to your inbox! © 2013 FierceMarkets. All rights reserved. http://www.fierceenergy.com |