Russia uranium enrichment center to open soon

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Russia plans to put its international uranium enrichment center into operation soon, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday, according to Russian news agencies. The center, at Angarsk in Siberia, is to enrich uranium that would be used for civilian purposes by other countries that have made nonproliferation commitments; the center also would reprocess used uranium to ensure it is not converted into material that could be used for nuclear weapons. President Vladimir Putin proposed setting up the center last year, and he and US President George W. Bush adopted a joint initiative on creating such centers. Ivanov said inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency would visit the center on Tuesday.