Three parties — Cameco (CCO-T), Paris-based Cogema and privately held Connecticut-based uranium trader Nukem — have signed an
agreement-in-principle with the Russian Federation to buy uranium taken from dismantled nuclear warheads.
The 10-year, extendable agreement covers most of the weapons-grade, highly enriched uranium now becoming available as a result of the 20-year nuclear-disarmament agreement signed by Russia and the U.S. in 1993. The 1993 agreement released the equivalent of about 400 million lb. of Russian U3O8 — an amount worth roughly US$4 billion on the spot market.
The partners will pay a discounted price for the uranium and guarantee minimum prices. Each partner may market its share independently, with most uranium to be sold for use in Western nuclear power plants.
The partners will also advance to Russia’s Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) up to half of each year’s aggregate purchase price to a maximum of US$100 million against deliveries.
Some of the uranium will be retained by Minatom for domestic consumption and for sale through its commercial representatives, Techsnabexport and Global Nuclear Services & Sales.
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