Rosatom signs deal allowing Russia to reprocess Canadian uranium
MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) - The chief of Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosatom, Nikolai Spassky, signed a document on Tuesday that will allow Russia to reprocess Canadian uranium.
This document will soon be signed in Ottawa by Canada's Nuclear Safety Commission, at which time it will take force automatically, a Rosatom statement says.
This involves administrative agreements between Rosatom and the Commission regarding a November 20, 1989 agreement between the former Soviet Union and Canada on cooperation in the field of the peaceful use of nuclear power.
The document lays out principles for the usage of nuclear materials of Canadian origin at Russian installations, as well as requirements for inventorying, controlling, and the physical protection of such materials and the drawing-up of reports. Its signing will make it possible for Russian enterprises to receive additional orders for reprocessing Canadian nuclear materials for Russia's nuclear power industry and for shipment to third countries.
Canada is the world's second largest producer of Uranium. Russia commands 40% of the market for enriching it for Western-design reactors. In the middle of this year, Rosatom signed with Australia, the world's third largest uranium producer, documents that clear the way for importing uranium from Australia and processing it at Russian enterprises.
