Russia Converts Half Its Weapons-Grade Uranium As Part Of Accord With US

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

Turning the core of nuclear armed missiles into fuel to cook dinner with.

Washington (AFP) Oct 01, 2005
Russia has converted half of its weapons-grade uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants in the United States, a development hailed on Friday by both governments as an importmant "milestone" under a non-proliferation agreement.

Some 250 tonnes of highly enriched uranium, enough to produce 10,000 nuclear warheads, have been converted to low enrich uranium over the past 12 years, said a joint statement issued by the US and Russian governments.

Russia promised to convert weapons grade uranium under the 1993 Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) agreement, delivering low grade uranium for use as fuel in power reactors in the United States. With 250 tonnes still to be converted by 2013, the announcement marked the half-way point in the non-proliferation project.

"September 2005 marks a significant milestone in the implementation of the HEU Agreement," the statement said.

Under the agreement, sometimes referred to as the "megatonnes to megawatts" project, 30 metric tonnes of Russian HEU are converted each year into low enriched uranium for use as fuel in U.S. nuclear power plants, generating approximately 10 percent of U.S. electricity," the two governments said.

"The United States and the Russian Federation continue to support the HEU agreement and ... intend to ensure that the HEU agreement is implemented successfully and without any hindrances to achieving this goal."

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

PROLIFERATION

Key Signatories Urged To Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

United Nations (AFP) Sep 23, 2005
A three-day review conference on the nuclear test ban treaty ended here Friday, calling for early ratification by the United States, China, Israel, Iran and seven other countries and stressing benefits of the pact for tsunami early warning systems.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.