U.S. Department of State

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Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security:
Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” Director General, Sergey Kiriyenko and
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman

Inter-Agency Participants:

 
Dates Group Convened:

Deliverables/Progress:

The first meeting of the Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security Working Group of the bilateral Russian-U.S. Presidential Commission was held in Washington on September 28-29, 2009.

At that meeting the first Action Plan for the Working Group was adopted, which provides for implementation of the provisions of the Joint Statement by the Russian and U.S. Presidents on Nuclear Cooperation of July 6, 2009, in the following 13 areas: nuclear materials accounting, control, and physical protection; return of nuclear fuel; conversion of reactors; consolidation and conversion of nuclear materials; plutonium disposition; combating trafficking of nuclear materials; international safeguards system; export control; ceasing production of weapons-grade plutonium; emergency response; the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism; bilateral cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in the field of civil nuclear energy; and the international structure of cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy.

The Action Plan, including the report on the results of the work accomplished, was agreed by all interested agencies and on October 21, 2009, and was sent to the President of Russia and the U.S., respectively.

According to the agreement with the U.S. side, every six months the Working Group will prepare another Action Plan, including a report on the results of the work accomplished.

On March 6, 2010, representatives from the U.S., Russia, and the IAEA participated in a presentation and discussion on “The Political and Technical dimensions of Strengthening IAEA Safeguards,” as part of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference 2010. This conference provided a forum to promote joint understanding and dialogue on challenges to the Safeguards regime -- one of the preliminary Action Plan activities of the Nuclear Energy/Nuclear Security Safeguards sub-working group.

On March 8, 2010, a meeting between Sergey Kiriyenko and Daniel Poneman was held on the margins of the Paris International Conference on Access of Developing Countries to Civil Nuclear Energy; at that meeting agreement was reached on the agenda for the near term. Some of the measures have already been carried out.

On March 18, 2010, a meeting of the coordinators of the Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security Working Group was held at Rosatom State Corporation. At the meeting the results of implementation of the Working Group’s first Plan were analyzed and the second Action Plan, including a report on the work accomplished, was developed and agreed upon.

On April 13, 2010, within the framework of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Commission Coordinators, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signed the Protocol to the Russian-U.S. intergovernmental Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement. In addition, during preparation of the Protocol, the document entitled “Key Elements of Monitoring and Inspections” was adopted for practical implementation of the Protocol.

On April 15, 2010, the last weapons-grade plutonium production reactor was shut down in Zheleznogorsk.

On April 25-29, 2010, there was a meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee for implementation of the Russian-U.S. intergovernmental Agreement regarding cooperation in the area of accounting, control and physical protection of nuclear materials, as well as forensics; based on the results of that meeting, a record was signed reflecting the results achieved and the areas for further cooperation, including a decision to incorporate nuclear forensics cooperation under the intergovernmental Agreement subject to Russian interagency concurrence.

On May 10, 2010, the first meeting of the Working Subgroup on Civil Nuclear Energy was held; based on the results of that meeting a report to Working Group Co-chairs Kiriyenko and Poneman is being prepared.

On 10 May 2010, President Obama approved and transmitted the text of the proposed 123 Agreement for review by the U.S. Congress.

Agenda for Future:

• Early June 2010 –Visit to the U.S. by a delegation from Rosatom State Corporation on issues regarding physical protection of nuclear facilities;

• June 2010 – U.S. side submits nuclear forensics cooperation proposals to Rosatom State Corporation for consideration by Russian interagency;

• By September 2010 – Start up the Zheleznogorsk Thermal Power Plant, with U.S. assistance, to supply the city with heat and electricity in place of the shutdown reactor;

• By October 2010 host in Obninsk, Russia, an IAEA joint State System of Accounting and Control (SSAC) training for third countries as noted in the objectives of the Nuclear Energy/Nuclear Security Safeguards sub-working group.

• 2nd Half of 2010 – Hold full meeting of the Working Group; prepare Implementing Agreement on feasibility studies of the possibility of converting six Russian research reactors; prepare Implementing Agreements and hold consultations with the IAEA on issues regarding implementation of the Protocol to the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement; prepare a document for the Nuclear Suppliers Group, based on Rosatom State Corporation guidelines, which summarizes Russian-U.S. best practices in the field of export control; continue joint program for removal by Russia and the U.S. of nuclear fuel of Russian and U.S. origin, respectively, from third countries.