Plans for a nuclear center in Angarsk, 5,100 km (3,170 miles) from Moscow, were proposed by Russia in early 2007 as a means of allowing countries, including Iran, to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium, to allay fears over nuclear weapons proliferation.
The draft agreement stipulates Ukraine's intention to acquire a 10% stake in the enterprise, in which Russia's state-controlled nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom holds a 51% controlling stake and Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom has 10%.
The government authorized Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko to sign the agreement on behalf of Ukraine.
The planned network of uranium enrichment centers, which would also be responsible for the disposal of nuclear waste, will work under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Russia has almost finished building a nuclear power plant at Bushehr in Iran, which is accused by Western powers of developing nuclear weapons technology under the guise of a civilian program. Tehran, which denies the allegations, has so far shown little interest in Angarsk. The country is under three rounds of UN sanctions for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities.
An enriched uranium reserve would provide a potential backup supply for nuclear power plants throughout the world on a non-discriminatory, non-political basis, reducing the need for countries to develop their own uranium enrichment technologies at a time when concerns over nuclear proliferation are growing.
Most government and industry experts agree that the commercial fuel market functions well in meeting current demand. Since this would be a backup or reserve mechanism, it would be designed in a way not to disrupt the existing commercial market in nuclear fuels.
