Igor Shkabura, Deputy Director General of Bochvar VNIINM

– Our country plays a very important role in global nuclear nonproliferation cause

Russia significantly contributes to strengthening of nuclear nonproliferation regime, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Corporation Modamed ElBaradei and his successor Yukiya Amano said during their meeting with Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko in Vienna Sept 14 2009. The IAEA leaders said Russia was the only country consistently and transparently processing highly enriched uranium. Kiriyenko said that Russia was systematically retrieving fresh and spent highly enriched nuclear fuel from research reactors of Soviet design in third countries. The fuel was supplied to the reactors during the Soviet times in the framework of scientific-technical cooperation programs. Kiriyenko said that a cargo containing 500 kg of highly enriched uranium was delivered to one of the Russian ports Sept 14. The fuel would be enough for producing 7–8 bombs. But now after processing these 500 kg will be turned into low enriched fuel posing no threat to the nonproliferation regime.

Our country plays a very important role in the global nuclear nonproliferation cause. First, we have highly developed nonproliferation measures: an effective control system keeping record of nuclear materials throughout the nuclear fuel cycle and instruments preventing their illegal turnover, particularly, systems of customs and border control and onsite monitoring.

One of the key passive measures is development of technologies processing highly enriched uranium into low enriched furl for WWER-type reactors. Our technologies are better than their foreign analogues. We use nuclear fuel much more effectively than our foreign partners do. Besides, we have promising projects to involve plutonium in the nuclear fuel cycle and to use fast breeder reactors allowing to reduce the amount of accumulating and stored nuclear materials, which implies big economic profits.

Russia has retrieved from a research reactor in Poland 500 kg of highly enriched uranium. The cargo was delivered to one of the Russian ports on Monday, Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenkio said during his meetings with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Corporation Modamed ElBaradei and his successor Yukiya Amano in Vienna. During the IAEA 53rd general conference Russia and Serbia signed a contract for retrieval of spent fuel from Vinca research reactor. Vinca was shut down in 1984. The Government of Serbia is going to dismantle it. June 10 Russia and Serbia signed an inter-governmental agreement for return of fuel from Vinca to Russia. Serbia says that the estimated cost of the project is $54mln: Belgrade will provide $25mln, the EU and the United States – the rest. Russia is the only country consistently and transparently processing highly enriched uranium. As of today, the country has depleted 370 tons of weapons-grade uranium, which is equivalent to 14,700 nuclear bombs. By 2013 the country will process 130 tons more (i.e. 5,200 more bombs). Besides, Russia is systematically retrieving fresh and spent highly enriched nuclear fuel from research reactors of Soviet design in third countries. Since 2002 it has returned 470 kg of fresh and 415 kg of spent fuel from 12 countries. This fuel could hypothetically be used for production of 11 nuclear bombs.