March 04, 2005
I Feel Safer Already
by Jeremy
Putin Contracts for Dismantling of Nukes
By JEREMY BROWN
Published: March 4, 2005
During talks with President George W. Bush concerning the security of Russia's arsenal of nuclear materials, Vladimir Putin declared that the Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) purchase agreement which, under former president Clinton sought to provide financial incentive for the former Soviet Union to convert its HEU stockpile to nuclear fuel for sale to the United States, has been revived.
Far from having floundered, Putin assured the President, the program has been expanded considerably, with contracts now extended to numerous other nations in addition to the United States.
"And it's easier for us now," Putin said at a February 25th press conference, "because we don't have to bother to convert the stuff beforehand. We let the countries securing the material do the conversion themselves." Nations now assisting in the decommissioning of HEU and other nuclear materials -- now to include reactors and warheads -- will include Syria and Iran, Putin said.
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