Full text taken from the United States Information Service Web Site: http://www.usembassy.ro/.../300/98-09-02/eur310.htm.

 

2 September 1998 

 

TEXT: CLINTON-YELTSIN STATEMENT ON PLUTONIUM DISPOSAL

 

Joint Statement of Principles For Management and Disposition of Plutonium Designated as No Longer Required for Defense Purposes

 

The Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation affirm the intention of each country to remove by stages approximately 50 metric tons of plutonium from their nuclear weapons programs, and to convert this material so that it can never be used in nuclear weapons. Recognizing that further arms reductions Will increase such plutonium, measures to manage and reduce such stockpiles are an essential element of irreversible arms reduction efforts and are necessary to ensure that these materials do not become a proliferation risk.

 

As an essential step in achieving this goal, at the July 1998 meeting of their Joint Commission, the U.S. and Russia reached agreement on scientific and technical cooperation in the management of plutonium that has been withdrawn from nuclear military programs. We have agreed on principles that will guide our governments in cooperating to achieve the objectives set forward in this statement. Our work today builds on the achievements of the 1996 Moscow Summit on Nuclear Safety and Security, and of the 1997 and 1998 G-8 Summits.

 

We have agreed on the following principles:

 

-- The U.S. and Russia will each convert approximately 50 tons of plutonium withdrawn in stages from nuclear military program into forms unusable for nuclear weapons. We recognize that interim storage will be required for this material.

 

-- The two governments will cooperate to pursue this goal through consumption of plutonium fuel in existing nuclear reactors (or reactors which may enter into service during the duration of our cooperation) or the immobilization of plutonium in glass or ceramic form mixed with high-level radioactive waste.

 

-- The U.S. and Russia expect that the comprehensive effort for the management and disposition of this plutonium will be a broad-based multilateral one, and welcome close cooperation and coordination with other countries, including those of the G-8. They further intend to encourage partnership with private industry.

 

-- In cooperation with others, the U.S. and Russia will, as soon as practically feasible and according to a time frame to be negotiated by the two governments, develop and operate an initial set of industrial-scale facilities for the conversion of plutonium to fuel for the above-mentioned existing reactors.

 

-- Conditions on cooperative projects for plutonium management and disposition will be determined by mutual consent of the parties participating in those projects.

 

-- In the plutonium management and disposition effort, the U.S. and Russia will seek to develop acceptable methods and technology for transparency measures, including appropriate international verification measures and stringent standards of physical protection, control, and accounting for the management of plutonium.

 

-- We also recognize that in order for this effort to be carried out, it will be necessary to agree upon appropriate financing arrangements.

Both sides will develop strategies for the management and disposition of plutonium, taking into account the July 1998 agreement as well as a bilateral agreement, based on the principles set forth in this statement. They will initiate negotiation of this bilateral agreement promptly with the intention of concluding the agreement by the end of this calendar year.

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

 

Moscow September 2,1998