VIENNA, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - The UN nuclear watchdog should create a mechanism for guaranteed fuel supplies to nations that give up their uranium enrichment programs, the head of Russia's Federal Nuclear Energy Agency said Monday. Alexander Rumyantsev, leading the Russian delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 49th general assembly in Vienna, said such a mechanism could be established through bilateral intergovernmental agreements envisaging the supply of nuclear reactors and fuel, with the waste to be returned to the supplier.
The Bushehr plant, the only ongoing nuclear cooperation project between Russia and Iran, will be implemented in strict compliance with international law and IAEA regulations, Rumyantsev said. The facility's first reactor is expected to be launched in 2006.
Moscow and Tehran are cooperating under protocol on the supply of nuclear fuel and the return of waste. But the future of their nuclear cooperation looks uncertain in the light of the IAEA Board of Governors' recent decision to refer Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council. The body may decide to impose sanctions on Tehran, including an economic embargo and a comprehensive ban on nuclear experiments, meaning the construction of a second Bushehr reactor will have to be put on hold indefinitely.
