OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2010. Russia and Belorussia concluded the intergovernmental agreement on return to Russia of fresh and irradiated highly enriched nuclear fuel from Belorussian research-and-development reactor in exchange for supplies of reduced-enrichment nuclear fuel.

The document was signed by Deputy General Director of Rosatom State Corporation Nikolay Spassky and Director of Sosny – Combined Energy and Nuclear Research Institute, State Scientific Establishment of Belorussian National Academy of Sciences — Vyacheslav Kuvshinov.

The agreement provides the return to Russia of irradiated nuclear fuel from Belorussian research-and-development reactor with a view of its temporal technologic storage and further processing at Mayak PD Federal State Unitary Enterprise. The agreement also stipulates the return to Russia of fresh highly enriched fuel in exchange for delivery to Belarus of fresh reduced-enrichment fuel in the amount equivalent to the uranium-235 isotope.

The return of fresh highly enriched fuel is performed in order to process it into reduced-enrichment fuel at LUCH SPA SRI Federal State Unitary Enterprise. The specified replacement of Belarusian highly enriched nuclear fuel on Russian reduced-enrichment fuel will ensure the normal operation of Hyacinth Belarusian critical facility at reduced-enrichment fuel, which will not pose any threat in terms of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

In accordance with the Russian Federation legislation in the field of environmental protection, the funds received from execution of the foreign trade contract on return of spent nuclear fuel of Belarusian research-and-development reactor, will be spent on a special framework program of environmental rehabilitation of radiation-contaminated areas in Chelyabinsk region. This program is consistent with Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and will be included in the materials of a single project concerning the return of spent nuclear fuel from the Republic of Belarus.

The costs of irradiated fuel transportation, its processing as well as performance of necessary ecological activities in the territory of Russia will be reimbursed to Russia by the US Ministry of Energy under the agreement between the Russian Federation and US Governments of May 27, 2004 on cooperation in the return to the Russian Federation of nuclear research reactor fuel produced in the Russian Federation, according to which Rosatom State Corporation shall return highly enriched nuclear fuel of foreign research reactors built on the basis of Russian design. Transportation of fresh highly enriched nuclear fuel from the Republic of Belarus, its processing, manufacturing of reduced-enrichment nuclear fuel and its transfer to the Republic of Belarus, acquisition of necessary amounts of uranium and reprocessing of highly enriched nuclear fuel into low-enriched uranium will be also financed by the U.S. Department of Energy.