MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - The State Duma on Friday ratified the Russian-U.S. Plutonium Disposition Agreement and two protocols to it.
A total of 312 deputies voted for the document and 92 voted against it.
The Russian-U.S. Plutonium Disposition Agreement was signed by the U.S. and Russia in mid 2000. Under this agreement, each party assumed an obligation to decommission 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium not needed for military programs.
The agreement also prohibits the export of the decommissioned plutonium to third countries, with the exception of cases when there is a written agreement between the parties on the matter. The document governs issues related to monitoring and inspecting of plutonium disposition in Russia and the U.S. on a symmetrical basis.
The agreement also envisions control over this process by the IAEA.
"Despite the fact that the agreement was signed back in 2000, its ratification was suspended due to the fact that some major issues relating to the implementation of this document were unresolved," the State Duma committee on international affairs said in a statement.
To clarify these issues, the parties signed a protocol in September 2009 that amended the intergovernmental agreement, the statement says. These changes affected "issues relating to civil liability for any losses and damage done as a result of activities associated with the implementation of the agreement."
In 2007, the Russian government decided to make changes to the Russian plutonium disposition program to allow the use of BN-800 fast neutron reactors instead of VVER-1000 reactors.
The U.S. agreed with Russia's proposal. The agreements were set forth in the second protocol to the bilateral agreement, which was signed in April 2010. Thus, the three documents (the agreement and the two protocols) were ratified by the State Duma on Friday.