Several U.S. media sources earlier said Russia and the U.S. had been considering an agreement on the civilian use of nuclear energy that would see a global center for reprocessing and storing high-level radioactive waste from foreign countries set up in Russia.
But Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power, said: "Russia has never imported and never will import spent nuclear fuel. Any talk about Russia's plans to import and store spent fuel represents either a provocation, or a pure lack of professionalism."
Igor Konyshev, a representative of an advisory body working with the agency, said earlier Tuesday that Russia and the U.S. planned to discuss the signing of an agreement on the civilian use of nuclear energy during the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in St. Petersburg on July 15-17.
"This document must serve as the basis for comprehensive cooperation between the two nuclear powers in the development of the nuclear energy industry," Konyshev said, adding that the lack of a document was an obstacle in the further development of Russia-U.S. relations.
