Arms Control & Non Proliferation
Documents & Texts from America.gov
17 July 2006
United States, Russia Support Peaceful Use of Nuclear Technology
By Stephen Kaufman
Washington File White House Correspondent
St. Petersburg, Russia -- President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin said nuclear energy, as a reliable power source that does not emit greenhouse gases, is an "essential part" of any solution to meet the world’s growing energy demand, and pledged their countries would cooperate to allow all nations to benefit from nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
According to a joint statement released July 17 before the close of the 2006 Group of Eight (G8) summit with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, the two leaders are united in their “determination to help make the benefits of nuclear energy securely available to all for peaceful purposes.”
The statement said both Russia and the United States believe nuclear energy is essential to energy security, and is a “proven” economical, environmentally safe means to provide reliable electric power. Bush and Putin added that they plan to conclude a bilateral cooperation agreement, through which other nations will gain an “additional assurance of access” to the technology.
The statement said that “reliable and sufficient energy supplies are the cornerstone of sustainable economic development and prosperity for all nations, and a necessary condition for maintaining international stability.” (See related article.)
The two leaders said their countries intend to work together, with the active involvement of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to “allow all nations to enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy without pursuing uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing capabilities,” which could be used to make nuclear weapons.
The statement mentioned Russia’s proposal to provide international nuclear fuel services and the U.S. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership proposal to develop new technologies for reactors and fuel cycles, as well as other measures that are designed to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation.
Both countries acknowledged the need for the continued development of new technologies that will reduce the risk of proliferation, promote safe nuclear waste management and improve the economic viability and environmental safety of nuclear reactors.
The two leaders backed the July 12 decision by the foreign ministers of the five permanent (P-5) members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany to refer Iran’s nuclear program to the Security Council for discussion, saying they are “especially concerned by the failure of the Iranian government to engage seriously on the proposals made by the P-5 countries and Germany.” (See related article.)
They also expressed concern over North Korea’s recent ballistic missile tests and urged that nation to return to multilateral talks and to implement its September 19, 2005 agreement to abandon its nuclear programs in return for economic incentives and security assurances.
On July 15, the U.N. Security Council adopted unanimously a resolution that calls for North Korea to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and requires U.N. member states to refrain from trading with North Korea on missile-related goods and technology. (See related article.)
“The United States and the Russian Federation are actively working for unity among the UN Security Council members on these sensitive issues. We will continue consultations with our G-8 partners to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime,” according to the statement.
Both countries also pledged to reinforce their peaceful nuclear cooperation with India, citing the Indian government’s nonproliferation commitments and “closer alignment with the nonproliferation regime mainstream.”
The full text of the joint statement is available on the White House Web site.
For full coverage of the G8 meetings, see G8 Summit 2006, St. Petersburg, Russia.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) | 
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