MOSCOW, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The head of Russia's nuclear fuel exporter said a deal to lift trade restrictions imposed by the United States may be signed sometime next year.
Vladimir Smirnov, the head of Techsnabexport, was optimistic Russian and U.S. negotiators will wave restrictions on Russian uranium that forces it to be sold through an intermediary or with a 116 percent tax.
"I think that in the first quarter of 2007, or by the summer of 2007 at the latest, we will sign an agreement with the U.S.," Smirnov said.
Russian uranium is served a 116 percent duty if it is not sold through the United States Enrichment Corp. RIA Novosti reports.
The corporation was created in the early 1990s, originally a government body charged with handling all of the United States' enrichment activity. It was soon privatized and is now investor owned.
It is still the arm of the United States in its dealing with Russia under the 1993 "Megatons to Megawatts" program. This program spearheaded breaking down nuclear warheads and reprocessing 500 tons of weapons-level uranium, which is then sold to United States Enrichment Corp. clients purchasing the fuel to run civilian power plants.
While Smirnov says a deal will be reached soon to eliminate the tariff, earlier this summer the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled against lifting the rate. It said Russia could dump uranium in the U.S. market, thus hurting the U.S. economy.
Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's nuclear agency, Rosatom, said Russia eyes 25 percent of the U.S. market and no more.
