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NUCLEAR
NEWS FOR LIFE
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Russia says to sell only natural uranium on market
[The following is an excerpt of an article distributed
by Reuters
reproduced in part here under the Fair Use Act..]
09:53 a.m. Dec 15, 1997 Eastern
MOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russia will begin selling natural uranium directly on world markets but continue honouring a 1994 deal sending reprocessed uranium from nuclear missiles to the United States, an official said on Monday.
Russia's Atomic Ministry announced last week its intention to end a 10-year memorandum penned in August with three Western firms, Canada's Cameco Corp, France's Cogema and German-owned Nukem Inc.
A ministry spokesman said last week the cancelled deal involved uranium from dismantled nuclear rockets, but Vladimir Mikerin, deputy director of Uranservice, a government-owned entity overseeing the contract, said on Monday it involved only natural uranium. Mikerin also said the deal with Washington on missile uranium would be honoured.
``This contract involves exclusively natural uranium and does not involve any uranium from warheads,'' he told Reuters, adding that Russia was able pull out because the August memorandum was only a declaration of intent not a formal contract.
[snipped]
Mikerin said Russian weapons-grade uranium would continue to be diluted to commercial grade and sold to the United States Enrichment Corporation for use by U.S. nuclear energy plants as set out in a 1994 agreement.
[snipped]
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