US and Russia to Enter Civilian Nuclear Pact

Washington, July 8 (UNI) Reversing decades of bipartisan policy that would benefit Russia, for the first time, President Bush has decided to permit extensive US civilian nuclear cooperation with Moscow administration, officials said.

The move would be worth billions of dollars to Moscow but could provoke an uproar in Congress. But it could provide the necessary leverage on Iran, according to a report in the Washington Post today.

President Bush resisted such a move for years, insisting that Russia first stop building a nuclear power station for Iran near the Persian Gulf. But US officials have changed their view of Russia's collaboration with Iran and concluded that President Vladimir Putin has become a more constructive partner in trying to pressurise Tehran to give up any aspirations for nuclear weapons.

President Bush is likely to announce his decision at a meeting with Putin in St Petersburg next Saturday, before the annual summit of leaders from the Group of Eight major industrialised nations, the Post said quoting officials.

The statement to be released by the two Presidents would agree to start negotiations for the formal agreement required under US law before the United States can engage in civilian nuclear cooperation.

According to the administration's view, the agreement would benefit both Washington and Moscow. A nuclear cooperation agreement would clear the way for Russia to import and store thousands of tonnes of spent nuclear fuel from US-supplied reactors around the world, a lucrative business so far blocked by Washington.

It could be used as an incentive to win more Russian cooperation on Iran. And it would be crucial to Bush's plan to spread civilian nuclear energy to power-hungry countries because Russia would provide a place to send the used radioactive material.

At the same time, the Post report said, it could draw stout objections, from across the ideological spectrum, according to analysts who follow the issue. Critics wary of Putin's authoritarian course view it as rewarding Russia even though Moscow refuses to support sanctions against Iran.

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