 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Iran Says Ready To Sign Key Deal With Russian On Nuclear Plant
Moscow (AFP) Feb 01, 2005 Iran said Tuesday it will sign a key deal with Russia on the return of spent fuel that will finally let Moscow launch the Islamic state's first nuclear power plant, despite new saber-rattling from Washington. Iran's ambassador Gholamreza Shafei told reporters that an agreement on the return to Russia of spent nuclear fuel may be reached during a visit to Iran by Russia's atomic energy chief Alexander Rumyantsev later this month. "Rumyantsev will visit Iran at the end of February to discuss this question," Shafei said. "Tehran is ready to sign a commercial agreement on this issue," he said in reference to the return of the nuclear fuel. Such statements have been issued by both sides in the past, only for the project to be delayed still further under pressure from the United States. The Russian-built plant at Bushehr -- whose construction had been launched by Germany in the 1970s - was initially due to go on line last year. But now Russian officials also say that the signing of the spent fuel agreement is imminent, and the comments appeared to be the most concrete to date concerning Bushehr's actual launch. The fuel's return has remained the key impediment to the 800 million dollar project. Russia and the West both fear that Iran could reprocess the spent fuel delivered from Russia by upgrading it through centrifuges to either make a weak "dirty bomb" or an actual nuclear weapon. Tehran has in the past used various arguments to avoid signing the agreement. It has said the material was too volatile and dangerous to transport back to Russia and also that Moscow was charging too much for the fuel itself. The United States and Israel had jointly launched an international campaign against Russia's Bushehr project but Moscow has countered that it would make sure the plant remained harmless to protect its own security interests. The Bushehr deal appears closer to fruition just weeks after the US administration said it could not rule out the use of force if Tehran fails to drop its nuclear ambitions. But Shafei said that Iran needed several more nuclear power plants -- hinting that the contracts will go to Russia - and said that Moscow and Tehran were also negotiating new arms deals. "Nobody doubts the need of building new nuclear power plants" in Iran, he said. Washington officials said that Iran will once again come up for discussion during US President George W. Bush's February 24 summit in Bratislava with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The West has argued that Iran has no need for nuclear energy because of its oil reserves. Tehran counters that its oil is far removed from densely populated regions and that international sanctions have prevented the country developing a proper infrastructure for delivering oil to the needed areas. Ambassador Shafei said Iran was prepared to admit foreign inspectors to any of its nuclear sites on demand. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
India Calls For Action Against Nuclear Proliferators
New Delhi (AFP) Oct 24, 2005India Monday urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take action against illegal proliferators of nuclear weapons technology such as Pakistan's disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights 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 SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
