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Russians balk on light-water reactor deal

WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- Russia will only build a light-water reactor to burn 34 tons of excess plutonium if it is paid for by others, a U.S. energy official said Wednesday.

The United States and Russia agreed in the year 2000 to each burn 34 metric tons of plutonium in a nuclear reactor, thus providing both energy and keeping the material out of the hands of terrorists.

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Russian government officials now want to use the plutonium to fuel a Russian-built fast-breeder reactor, said Jerald S. Paul, the principal deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Energy Department during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

"The Russians are no longer committed to the program as" agreed in 2000, Paul said. "They are still committed to the destruction of 34 metric tons of plutonium but their preference is for a fast (breeder) reactor unless the international community provides all the money to do it."

Fast-breeder reactors are generally considered a greater proliferation risk than light-water reactors as they produce, or "breed," more fissile material than they consume; depending on the configuration of the reactor, the material could be used for weapons. Light-water reactors must be refueled every few months to continue to produce fissile material.

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The Russians are building a BN-800 (800 MWe) fast-breeder reactor at Beloyarsk.

The program to build mixed-oxide fueled light-water reactors in South Carolina and in Russia has hit repeated snags. The two countries were initially supposed to begin burning plutonium in 2007, but that date has been pushed back to at least 2013, according to Energy Department documents. The countries lost two years over disagreements about who would be liable in the event of a nuclear accident in Russia. The United States has a $10 billion fund for nuclear accidents.

The international community has donated about $850 million for the construction of a Russian light-water reactor, which will cost an estimated $2.7 billion, up from initial estimates of $1.5 billion. The U.S. MOX reactor will cost about $3.5 billion, up from the $1 billion estimated in 2002.

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