MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia may restart supplies of downgraded high-enriched uranium (HEU) to the United States under the so-called HEU-LEU contract shortly.
"We have more or less agreed upon a new price for the uranium, but this still has to be approved by the Russian and U.S. governments," Techsnabexport, Russia's authorized agent for the deal, told Interfax. The source said he was confident this would not take long.
The Techsnabexport source did not go into detail about the new prices, saying only that Russia and its American partner, US Enrichment Corp (USEC), were preparing an official statement.
And the source said foreign media reports that Russia and the United States had agreed on a lower price for Russian uranium were "close to the mark."
Officials from the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy have on several occasions said Russia would not lower its uranium prices.
The Financial Times has quoted US uranium industry representatives as saying that after lengthy negotiations, Russia and the United States had agreed that the price for the uranium, which is extracted from decommissioned nuclear warheads, will be lowered USD20 from its current level of USD90 per separative work unit (SWU). A formula had also been agreed upon whereby Russia's earnings increase as market prices for uranium increase. The market price is currently USD105 per SWU.
Under the 20-year HEU-LEU deal, Russia must dilute 500 tonnes of highly-enriched weapons-grade uranium extracted from about 20,000 warheads into commercial low-enriched uranium used as fuel for power plants.
According to the Atomic Energy Ministry, Russia has supplied the U.S. with 4,200 metric tonnes of LEU, equivalent to 141.4 tonnes of HEU, as of January 2002.