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Senate Defense Panel Accepts Domenici HEU Admendment

from the Office of Senator Pete V. Domenici

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today gained renewed support for his plan for his initiative to better protect U.S. nuclear fuel markets while also encouraging Russia to eliminate an additional 300 metric tons of weapons usable, highly enriched uranium (HEU).

Domenici serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee that today agreed to add his Russia HEU amendment to the FY2009 Defense Appropriations Bill, which is now ready for consideration by the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The amendment was accepted on a voice vote.

Domenici argued that the HEU amendment is necessary to promote global nonproliferation objectives and provide stability for the U.S. nuclear fuel market. Today, the United States imports 80 percent of the enriched uranium that fuels its nuclear power plants, and Russia provides 42 percent of those imports. Overall, Russia possesses 50 percent of global uranium enrichment capacity, but only 7 percent of the world’s nuclear reactors.

“I am adamant about getting this plan on the books because it is so important on many levels to the United States. It would propel an ongoing and successful bilateral nonproliferation HEU program. It would also give us a foundation on which to meet our long-term energy security needs as we try to rely more on a growing domestic nuclear energy sector,” said Domenici.

The Domenici proposal, which was considered separately by the Senate earlier this year, would accomplish several primary objectives:

• Support completion of the existing U.S.-Russia HEU Agreement by 2013 to downblend 500 metric tons of Russian HEU.

• Close a loophole created by a U.S. Court of International Trade ruling in September 2007 that would give Russia unrestricted access to the U.S. uranium enrichment market.

• Increase Russian access to the uranium enrichment market by 5 percent if it agrees to downblend an additional 300 metric tons of HEU—enough material for 25,000 nuclear weapons—after the 2013 expiration of the current U.S.-Russia HEU Agreement. The added market access would be above the 20 percent access provided in a bilateral Russian Suspension Agreement signed by the Bush Administration in February and codified in the Domenici legislation.

“The current HEU agreement has been successful and it must be sustained. At the same time, it is imperative that we be able to enforce the mutually agreed on import limits we have with Russia, which with its dominance in uranium enrichment could overwhelm our own domestic enrichment capabilities,” Domenici said.

“My proposal will help clarify the U.S. market and encourage expansion of U.S. enrichment capacity, while still offering cooperative incentives to the Russians to continue converting its surplus HEU into forms that can no longer be used in weapons,” he said.

Domenici suggested that the proposal should be attractive to Russia because it reinforces existing bilateral agreements and includes incentives for Russia to downblend more HEU which would increase its access to U.S. markets. At today’s prices and volume, the proposed additional 5 percent market share represents $250 million a year to Russia—if it agrees to additional downblending.

The amendment was included by the Senate in an FY2008 supplemental bill, but was later dropped during conference negotiations with the House of Representatives.

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