MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has imported spent nuclear fuel from only Bulgaria and Ukraine this year, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said at a roundtable discussion in Moscow on Friday.
Spent nuclear fuel valued at about USD50m was shipped to Russia. Bulgaria paid about USD620 per kilo and the cost for Ukraine totaled USD350 per kilo, Rumyantsev said.
"A mandatory return of spent nuclear fuel after processing is envisioned for all the shipments. If the nuclear waste were to remain in Russia, the payment of processing the spent nuclear fuel would be higher," he said.
Russia is negotiating the delivery of nuclear fuel to Hungary.
"We will conclude contracts for supplying fresh and shipping out spent nuclear fuel," he said. Russia imports spent nuclear fuel from these countries at prices lower than the world market. "It is economically impossible to receive from them the same amount as, for instance, from France or Germany," he said.
However, a protocol was finalized "on larger payments for Ukraine's spent nuclear fuel," he said.
Russia may earn up to USD20bn on the spent nuclear fuel market in the future, he said.