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'Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Management of Plutonium that has been Withdrawn from Nuclear Military Programs', Moscow, 24 July 1998; text as released by the White House Office of the Vice-President, 24 July
Editor's note: the text of the agreement was released following two days of meetings (23-24 July) in Moscow between Russia's Prime Minister, Sergei Kiriyenko, and US Vice-President Al Gore.
"The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation, hereafter referred to as the Parties, Taking into account:
(a) The 14 January, 1994, Declaration of the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation on 'Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Means of Their Delivery';
(b) The Declaration of the 19-20 April, 1996, Summit on Nuclear Safety and Security in Moscow;
(c) The Conclusions of the International Meeting of Experts in Paris, on 28-31 October, 1996, concerning the safe and efficient management of fissile materials designated as no longer required for defense purposes;
(d) The statement regarding fissile materials in the 22 June, 1997, Final Communiqué of the Denver Summit of the Eight;
(e) The statement of the President of the United States on 1 March, 1995, that 200 tons of fissile material will be withdrawn from the US nuclear stockpile and directing that these materials will never again be used to build a nuclear weapon; and
(f) The message of the President of the Russian Federation to the participants of the 41st General Conference of the IAEA, 26 September, 1997, on step-by-step removal from nuclear defense programs of up to 500 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and up to 50 tonnes of plutonium released in the process of nuclear disarmament;
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
The purposes of this agreement are to:
a) provide the scientific and technical basis for decisions on how plutonium, subject to this agreement, shall be managed; and
b) establish a framework for continued and expanded scientific and technical cooperation for the accomplishment of the objective in paragraph a.
Article 2
For purposes of this agreement:
1. 'plutonium' means plutonium that has been withdrawn from nuclear military programs and is no longer required for defense purposes.
2. 'management of plutonium' means the transformation of plutonium into spent fuel or other forms equally unusable for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and may include conversion of plutonium and its manufacture into MOX fuel, use of MOX fuel in nuclear reactors, and immobilization of plutonium in various forms.
Article 3
1. The parties shall:
a) continue to cooperate with small-scale tests and demonstrations relating to management of plutonium; and
b) as soon as is practicable, also proceed to pilot-scale demonstrations of technologies for plutonium management.
2. The principal subject areas for the parties' cooperative efforts shall be:
a) conversion of metallic plutonium into oxide suitable for the manufacture of MOX fuel for nuclear power reactors of various types;
b) stabilization of unstable forms of plutonium;
c) use of plutonium in the form of MOX fuel in various types of nuclear power reactors;
d) immobilization of plutonium, including wastes and hard-to-process forms; and
e) disposal of immobilized forms of materials containing plutonium in deep geological formations.
Article 4
1. The parties shall designate executive agents to carry out the provisions of this agreement. The executive agent for the United States of America shall be the US Department of Energy and the executive agent for the Russian federation shall be the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy. ...
3. To accomplish the objectives of this agreement, the parties shall establish a US-Russian Joint Steering Committee on Plutonium Management, which shall coordinate and agree upon work undertaken under this agreement. ... Decisions of the Joint Steering Committee shall be taken by consensus. ...
Article 5
Cooperation between the parties within the framework of this agreement may include the following:Decisions of the Joint Steering Committee shall be taken by consensus
a) sharing of scientific and technical information;
b) development of conceptual approaches;
c) research, experiments and small-scale demonstrations of technological solutions;
d) design, construction, and operation of pilot-scale facilities for demonstrating and testing technological solutions obtained as a result of research;
e) transfer of equipment and non-nuclear materials;
f) meetings, seminars, conferences, personnel assignments, and workshops for the sharing of information;
g) feasibility studies; and
h) such other forms of cooperation within the scope of this agreement as the executive agents may agree upon in writing.
Article 6
1. In the implementation of this agreement, only unclassified information shall be exchanged. ...
Article 7
1. Materials, equipment and technologies, transferred under the terms of this agreement, shall not be used for the production of nuclear weapons, any nuclear explosive devices, or for research or development of such devices or for the furtherance of any military purpose. ...
4. The parties' executive agents shall take all measures necessary to ensure adequate physical protection of nuclear materials, equipment, installations, and nuclear technologies in its jurisdiction, and shall apply criteria and levels of physical protection not lower than those identified in the convention on the physical protection of nuclear material and in recommendations of the IAEA. ...
Article 14
1. This agreement shall enter into force on the date of signature, and shall remain in force for five years. the agreement may be extended for successive five-year periods with the written consent of both parties after joint review before the end of each five-year period. The agreement may be amended by written agreement of the parties.
2. This agreement may be terminated by either party by sending written notice through diplomatic channels of its intent to terminate the agreement, in which case the agreement shall terminate six months from the date of the notification. ..."
Nuclear Cities Initiative
'Joint Statement on US-Russian Cooperation to Implement the Nuclear Cities Initiative,' Moscow, 24 July 1998; text as released by the White House Office of the Vice-President, 24 July
Editor's note: the statement was signed by Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko and Vice-President Al Gore.
Full text
"US-Russian cooperation in the nuclear field is becoming a permanent part of the process of achieving nuclear security in the world, in the broader sense.
Nuclear disarmament is associated with a number of socio-economic factors, which should be considered in the efforts of government activities to develop the positive potential of this process, including the problem of finding worthwhile employment in the civilian sector of the economy for personnel formerly employed in the nuclear complex.
In this regard, the Initiative by the US Department of Energy and MinAtom of Russia to establish alternative peaceful production, which is connected with the economic diversification and redirection of facilities of the nuclear complex, is viewed as highly important. Within the framework of the Initiative, work is under way to identify commercially viable projects to produce civilian goods and services and attract investments in such projects. This activity is known as the 'Nuclear Cities Initiative.' The parties note that the Initiative is envisioned as an equal partnership, which is gaining increasing support in both government and business communities in our countries, and express the hope that it will result in alternative economic opportunity in the nuclear cities.
The parties acknowledge that joint activities conducted under this Initiative will require careful consideration and long-term commitment. In this connection, we direct our respective organizations to immediately begin the development of a government-to-government agreement which establishes the formal framework for the Initiative, and to start in 1998 the implementation of pilot projects leading to economic diversification, including the creation of new civilian sector jobs, in the nuclear cities."
© 1998 The Acronym Institute.