Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Russia

Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Russia: Nuclear Deal Takes Effect

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

An agreement between Russia and the United States to cooperate more closely on civilian nuclear power took effect Tuesday and was hailed by both sides as a sign that a recent thaw in relations was bearing fruit. The deal, called the 123 Agreement, is intended to ease cross-border investment in nuclear power by resolving issues like liability for accidents.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Russia keen to partner India in tapping thorium cycle

Russia offers to develop fast-neutron reactor with India
Russia and India are in talks to collaborate on a "new generation" fast-neutron reactor in a deal that would tap India's thorium fuel cycle, the Indian Department of Atomic Energy announced. If the agreement pushes through, thorium and uranium-233 would power electricity output from the reactors under India's three-stage nuclear energy program. The Hindu Business Line (India)

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Iran invites foreign diplomats to tour its nuclear sites (Update 1)

Iran's Bushehr nuclear power. © RIA Novosti.Andrey Reznichenko

Iran invites foreign diplomats to tour its nuclear sites (Update 1)

Iran offers tour to foreign officials of its nuclear facilities

Iran has offered to give EU representatives, the Non-Aligned Movement and other parties a tour of its nuclear facilities on Jan. 15 and 16. The U.S. State Department said the invitation in nothing but a "public relations stunt" and "not a substitute for Iran's responsibilities" to the International Atomic Energy Agency. RIA Novosti (Russia)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Turkey, Japan to ink MOU on nuclear plant this week

Turkey collaborates with Japan, Russia on new nuclear plants
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz will visit Japan to participate in talks on the proposed construction of a nuclear power plant in Sinop, Turkey, under a new memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation between the two countries. Turkey has also decided to work with Russia on the construction of a reactor in the city of Mersin. Reuters
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFIST00744420101221

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Four-Year Nuclear Security Plan Needs More Detail, GAO Says

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101216_6900.php

The Obama administration should address in more specific terms how it plans to achieve its goal of securing all loose nuclear material in the world within four years, congressional investigators said in a report released yesterday (see GSN, April 14).
The National Security Council has signed off on a comprehensive approach for the material security plan "that describes the scope and objectives of the interagency effort and identifies the main efforts by U.S. agencies and programs to support the initiative," according to a summary of the Government Accountability Office report.
"However, this interagency strategy lacks specific details concerning how the initiative will be implemented, including the identity of vulnerable foreign nuclear material sites and facilities to be addressed, agencies and programs responsible for addressing each site, planned activities at each location, potential challenges and strategies for overcoming those obstacles, anticipated time lines, and cost estimates," according to the document. "As a result, key details associated with the initiative are unclear, including its overall estimated cost, time frame, and scope of planned work."
Congressional auditors found that two Energy Department nonproliferation programs -- the Materials Consolidation and Conversion program and the Global Threat Reduction Initiative -- have worked to lock down Russia's nuclear warheads and supplies less effectively than the department's Material Protection, Control and Accounting program (see GSN, Dec 13).
Moscow's uncertain dedication to joint U.S.-Russian nuclear threat reduction work has placed in question the future of the three programs, all of which are overseen by the Energy Department's semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the report asserts.
The MPC&A effort faced an uphill drive to augment measures for protecting a number of Russian atomic sites against internal and external security risks and turning responsibility for the new safeguards over to Moscow, the document states. The difficulties were likely to prevent compliance with a U.S. legal mandate that Russia fully take over the MPC&A program by the start of 2013, the report says. The auditors urged the Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration to develop a more precise breakdown of the initiative's uncompleted objectives and anticipated expenses in Russia.
In China and India, political concerns have restricted NNSA nuclear security activities to the exchange of security best practices, training and demonstration efforts, the report notes.
The Energy Department agency was moving forward in negotiations with South Africa, Ukraine and other nations to expedite the removal of potential nuclear bomb ingredients within their borders, the auditors found (U.S. Government Accountability Office release, Dec. 15).

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Russia, Mongolia set terms for uranium mining venture

http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Russia_Mongolia_set_terms_for_uranium_mining_venture_999.html Moscow (AFP) Dec 14, 2010 Russia and Mongolia set the terms Tuesday for the operation of a jointly-run uranium mine in the former Soviet satellite. The Dornod Uran joint venture will dig for uranium in Mongolia's Dornod province and receive an initial investment of around 300 million dollars (225 million euros), Russian officials said.
The agreement was signed during talks here between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Mongolian counterpart Sukhbaatar Batbold.
Mongolia's mining industry is the country's largest, accounting for 40 percent of its export revenues, according to the World Nuclear Association.
Donrnod, Mongolia's biggest uranium deposit, was mined by a Russian subsidiary from 1988 to 1995.
Russia renewed interest in the site in 2009, when it initially created the new joint venture.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Moscow Attempts to Convince US and NATO it is Ready for a Nuclear Arms Race

Medvedev and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, have recently threatened the West with the prospect of a new arms race to press the US Senate to promptly ratify the New START arms control treaty and bully NATO into accepting Russian proposals on ballistic missile defense (EDM, December 2). Russian pundits have been promising that the Russian rocket industry is capable of revival and the Votkinsk rocket factory in the Urals may begin to produce up to 60 land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM's) (Kommersant, December 2). The GLONASS flop undermined the credibility of the Russian rocket industry at a really sensitive time, which could explain why foreign policy aid Prikhodko was so upset. More at:
http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=37262&cHash=697bcd0ad4

Monday, December 13, 2010

IANS IAEA to help Bangladesh build N-power plant

Dhaka, Dec 13 (IANS) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will extend all-out support to Bangladesh in setting up a nuclear power plant, visiting director general of the global nuclear watchdog Yukiya Anano said Monday.
'Bangladesh is an excellent partner of the IAEA. We will help the country strengthen the nuclear infrastructure and capacity building to set up the power plant,' he said.
http://sify.com/news/iaea-to-help-bangladesh-build-n-power-plant-news-international-kmnt4sfagbh.html

Venezuela's nuclear program – the alarmists are right International Affairs Review

http://www.iar-gwu.org/node/240
Given Venezuela's rich oil, gas, and hydroelectric resources, the need for a nuclear power program seems questionable.

Russia plans 2013 start of construction of Turkish nuclear plant

Russia plans 2013 start of construction of Turkish nuclear plant
Russia will begin constructing a $20 billion nuclear facility in Turkey by 2013, said Vladimir Ivanovsky, the Russian ambassador to Turkey. "The launch of the plant's first power unit is planned for 2018, while the other three will be launched with an interval of one year," he said. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101212/161741673.html

Friday, December 10, 2010

Pact Lifts Limits on Civilian Nuclear Projects With Russia By PETER BAKER

U.S. Pact to Share Civilian Nuclear Tech With Russia Clears Congress

A U.S. pact with Russia on civilian nuclear power has cleared what the New York Times today called "its final hurdle" in Congress. The agreement would allow Russia to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from the U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman was quoted as saying the "agreement represents a major step forward in U.S.-Russian civil nuclear cooperation. It enhances cooperation on nonproliferation" and "creates new commercial opportunities for Russian and American industry."

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Russia scholar Matt Rojansky said the agreement was "potentially far more significant" than the New Start arms treaty: "It delivers on the promise of reset because it taps into fundamentally shared interests, benefits both sides and enables the U.S. and Russia to lead together on nuclear security." A spokeswoman for Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., said he opposed the deal, saying Russia continued to "train Iranian nuclear physicists, supply sensitive nuclear technology to Iran, and give secret instruction on Russian soil to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard."

New York Times, Dec. 10.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/world/europe/10nuke.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Russia, US ink agreement on reactor conversion By Jim Heintz

MOSCOW—Russia and the U.S. signed an agreement Tuesday on conducting feasibility studies for converting Russian research nuclear reactors to using low-enriched uranium.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom, and U.S. deputy energy secretary Daniel Poneman signed the document.

Some research reactors in the United States already have been converted, part of a nonproliferation initiative to reduce the presence of uranium enriched to a sufficiently high concentration to be used in nuclear weapons.

A text of the agreement was not immediately available after the signing ceremony.

"As a general principle, we believe the right thing to do is to take highly enriched uranium where available and convert research reactors using that to low-enriched uranium, as a global matter that is a safer and more proliferation-resistant way to go," Poneman told reporters.

"It's fitting and proper that both Russia and the United States should be full participants in that process," he said.

Poneman said U.S.-Russian cooperation on such issues demonstrates the increasingly globalized nature of nuclear energy.

A Rosatom subsidiary last month bought 51 percent of the shares in Uranium One, a Canadian company whose holdings include uranium mines in the United States.

Responding to media commentary that the deal indicated the U.S. was losing control of strategic components, Poneman said: "I would say it reflects a misunderstanding of the fundamental nature of the international nuclear fuel cycle. Over a number of decades a very elaborate and complex multilayered fuel cycle has developed around the world."

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/07/russia_us_ink_agreement_on_reactor_conversion/

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Saudi wants nuclear power 'soon': US official

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia plans to be producing nuclear power within 10 years, a senior US trade official said here Monday.
"They want to have civil nuclear power as a part of their mix ... relatively soon," said Under Secretary of Commerce Francisco Sanchez, after meetings with Saudi officials.
The world's largest supplier of oil wants to have nuclear power "within the next 10 years", he told journalists.
Riyadh has begun to move toward nuclear power to replace burning valuable oil and natural gas in power plants.
The country signed a cooperation agreement on civil nuclear technology with the United States in 2008, and has held talks with France and Russia in the past year on similar agreements.
In April the country announced it would build the research-and-development focused King Abdullah City for Nuclear and Renewable Energies to underpin its move to diversify energy use away from fossil fuels.
Sanchez was in Riyadh leading a delegation of US businessmen in the infrastructure and energy sectors to meet Saudi counterparts.
He said Saudi Arabia's planned spending of some 500-700 billion dollars on infrastructure over 2009-2014 made it an important target for US businesses, especially in the alternative energy sector.http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h_ALKUAqgT7WBYWBkuM2R85yjrFA?docId=CNG.3c86e1065eee2cfd740284f4a84f3555.221

Monday, December 6, 2010

Russia Tests Nuclear-Capable ICBM from GSN Daily News

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101206_4921.php

Russia's military yesterday carried out a successful test launch of a nuclear-capable ICBM, RIA Novosti reported (see GSN, Oct. 28).
Launched from the Astrakhan region of Russia, the RS-12M Topol missile's dummy warhead struck "a conditional target accurately at the landfill of Sary-Shagan in Kazakhstan," said a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Kremlin first placed the Topol missile into operation 25 years ago. Its maximum range is 6,125 miles, according to the news agency.
The RS-12M is roughly comparable to the U.S. Minuteman ICBM in stature and configuration.
The Russian strategic missile forces are set to receive RS-24 missiles that are thought to be capable of carrying up to six warheads, SMF commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said last week. The RS-24 entered into service last year.
In August, the strategic missile forces announced the RS-24 and the one-warhead Topol-M missiles would form the backbone of Russia's land-based nuclear arsenal -- representing at least four-fifths of the organization's total stockpile within six years. Since June, the nuclear force has been operating a minimum of 18 mobile and 50 facility-based Topol-M systems.
The strategic missile forces have 10 ICBM test-launches planned for 2011, double the number conducted this year, Karakayev said (RIA Novosti, Dec. 5).

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Russia opens world's first nuclear fuel bank

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=247854211242866212 Moscow (AFP) Dec 1, 2010 Russia announced Wednesday that it had created the world's first international atomic fuel bank as part of a global effort to curb the spread of nuclear arms to nations such as North Korea and Iran. The Rosatom state atomic energy corporation said the Siberian fuel reserve -- which will operate under the auspices of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog -- will have enough material to refuel two civilian nuclear power plants.
"The purpose of this facility is to reduce the risk of other countries processing their own uranium to a minimum," former Foreign Intelligence Service chief Gennady Yevstafyev told AFP. "This will dramatically improve control over the proliferation of nuclear weapons."
The Angarsk bank is the first of about a dozen facilities proposed by various nations following the 2003 discovery of covert enrichment activity in Iran.
The plant now stores 120 tonnes of low-enriched uranium (LEU) that has been enriched to between two and 4.95 percent. Scientists say it can satisfy the electricity needs of a 12-million-strong city for up to a year.
The fuel is considered safe because the weapons-grade uranium desired by nations seeking to build nuclear weapons must be enriched to at least 90 percent.
The IAEA approved the Russian reserve's creation at a historic but contentious two-day meeting in November.
The type of fuel stored in Angarsk is used by most of today's civilian nuclear power plants. Russia first proposed the idea to the IAEA in September 2007 amid fears here that supply cutoffs could be used by Western nations for political purposes.
"This bank was created under the Russian president's initiative to form a global nuclear energy infrastructure (that would ensure) reliable compliance with the nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime," Rosatom said in a statement.
Then-president Vladimir Putin first forwarded the nuclear fuel bank initiative in January 2006 amid a resumption of nuclear dialogue between Russia and the United States.
Moscow and Washington signed their own peaceful nuclear cooperation deal -- known as the 123 Agreement -- two years later and the two sides then both pushed for the bank's approval at the IAEA.
The idea was backed by 23 of the 35 IAEA members at the Vienna meeting but opposed by countries such as Brazil and Pakistan that are just beginning to establish their own nuclear programmes.
"The main problem with nuclear energy is that countries try to develop their own nuclear fuel cycles," Yevstafyev said in reference to the independent production and enrichment of uranium -- an ability perfected by a limited group of states.
"And this cycle is then turned around and focused on developing nuclear weapons. This plant should help stop that."
The Angarsk announcement comes one week after Russia and the IAEA signed a separate agreement on developing a joint training programme for nuclear experts who could then be employed at the various facilities across Russia.
Officials here have voiced fears that they no longer have the scientists and experts they did in the Soviet era to safely operate the country's vast network of nuclear facilities.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Russia to increase missiles unless shield agreed: Putin

Putin's remarks also come amid uncertainty about the fate of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed this year by US President Barack Obama and Medvedev.

Moscow (AFP) Dec 1, 2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow will build up its "striking forces" including nuclear weapons to ensure security if a joint decision on missile defence fails. Putin's remarks came shortly after President Dmitry Medvedev warned in his annual address of a possible new round of the arms race if the sides do not agree on the European missile defence shield.
If Russia's proposals on the European system "are met with negative answers only" while additional threats appear, "Russia will have to ensure her own security," Putin said, according to previewed excerpts of an interview with CNN's Larry King released Wednesday.
"Striking forces" would include "new missile, nuclear technology," he said. "This is not our choice, we do not want that to happen," but this is what will happen "if we do not agree on a joint effort there," Putin said.
The full interview will air at 9:00 pm Eastern Time in the United States, or 0500 GMT.
Russia and NATO agreed to deepen missile defence cooperation at last month's summit in Lisbon.
Medvedev warned at the time that the positive response of Russia to a missile defence shield in Europe depended on the quality of cooperation between Moscow and the Alliance.
The Wall Street Journal reported that NATO leaders late last month rejected a proposal from Medvedev to unite Russia's missile defenses with a shield being built by the West.
A few hours before Putin's interview, the Russian defence ministry said its new RS-24 ballistic missile would allow Russia to bypass missile defence systems.
"The entry into service of the RS-24 will reinforce the strategic capacity of striking forces in the matter of bypassing anti-missile defence systems, therefore consolidating the nuclear deterrent," spokesman Igor Shevchenko was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
Putin's remarks also come amid uncertainty about the fate of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed this year by US President Barack Obama and Medvedev.
START restricts the US and Russia to a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads, a cut of about 30 percent from a limit set in 2002.
The Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has indicated it will ratify the treaty only after its ratification by the US Senate.
The agreement, a top Obama foreign policy initiative, replaces a previous accord that lapsed in December 2009 but ratification has been held up by opposition Republicans.

Russia deputy PM warns of students leaking nuclear secrets

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_deputy_PM_warns_of_students_leaking_nuclear_secrets_999.html Moscow (AFP) Dec 1, 2010 Russian universities need to be more vigilant to prevent foreign students acquiring sensitive information concerning nuclear weapons, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday. "It is very important to prevent situations where in higher education establishments, economic or financial reasons prevail over questions of national security and international obligations in the field of non-proliferation," Ivanov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
Ivanov said universities needed to be more vigilant over enrolment of foreign students, and take greater care to protect state secrets.
Russian authorities would draw up a list of countries which represented a "persistent risk of dangerous leaks" in the sphere of missile technology, he said.
Russia hosts more than 160,000 foreign students from 150 countries, Ivanov said.

Rosatom Claims Ready to Provide Fuel for Bulgaria's Belene NPP

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle begins when uranium is ...

Image via WikipediaRosatom offers to supply fuel for proposed nuclear plant in Bulgaria
Russia's Rosatom said it is ready to supply uranium throughout the 60-year commission of the proposed Belene nuclear facility in Bulgaria, said CEO Sergey Kiriyenko. Aside from providing the nuclear fuel, Rosatom is also willing to buy the facility's used fuel for recycling, Kiriyenko said.

Fortum secures contract for Bulgarian nuclear project

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3E6N10DS20101201
Finland-based Fortum said it has signed a deal to build a nuclear plant in Bulgaria with support from Russia's Rosatom. The proposed Belene nuclear plant will have two Russian-designed VVER reactors. "Fortum has reserved an opportunity to obtain a 1% share of the equity in the project company that will be established and will be the owner of the power plant and the electricity generated by it," the company said. Reuters

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Key US senator resolute on Russia nuclear pact from Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Key_US_senator_resolute_on_Russia_nuclear_pact_999.htmlWashington (AFP) Nov 28, 2010

A key US senator reiterated Sunday his position that a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia could not be ratified this year, rejecting calls from President Barack Obama for quick action. "It is more a view of reality rather than policy," senator John Kyl told NBC's "Meet the Press," calling for weeks of debate on the details of the new START arms reduction treaty.