27.02.2007 // RIA Novosti

Fradkov and Kiriyenko will discuss with their Japanese colleagues the prospects of nuclear energy cooperation

Japan hopes that the visit of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov to Tokyo will give a start to consultations for concluding an agreement on nuclear energy cooperation, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari said during a press-conference on Tuesday.

He said that the question is, particularly, about the enrichment of the uranium from Japanese NPPs for their reuse.

Amari noted that Japan needs guarantees that the enriched uranium will not be used for the production of nuclear weapons. That’s why, one of the key conditions of the Japanese side is IAEA inspections in Russia.

Nuclear energy cooperation will be one of the key topics during the talks between Fradkov and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

The head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko will also go to Japan. Diplomatic sources report that, besides the problem of uranium enrichment, Kiriyenko is planning to discuss the possibility of concluding an inter-governmental agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. They in Rosatom have refrained from commenting on the matter.

Meanwhile, recently a representative of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that Russian and Japanese experts are already consulting about uranium enrichment agreement. 

Earlier, a Japanese newspaper appeared with an article saying that by the summer 2007 Moscow and Tokyo may conclude an agreement on the enrichment of uranium from Japan by Russian Atomprom. As far as the newspaper knew, the question was about the enrichment of the uranium taken from used fuel rods in Japan and stored in the UK. However, according to the source, the sides were also considering the possibility of enriching uranium ore extracted in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Japan, who sticks to the so-called three non-nuclear principles: not to have, not to produce and not to import nuclear weapons, has almost no uranium enrichment projects in the territory as highly-enriched uranium is qualified as weapon-grade fuel. The country’s existing capacities allow it to enrich no more than 10% of spent fuel. 

Presently, the uranium from Japan is reprocessed in the UK and France. In fact, it is not enriched as this service is very expensive. As a result, the reprocessed uranium is stored in those countries.

Now that the UK is insisting that the uranium be taken from its territory, Japan is facing the urgent need to find a place for its enrichment.