Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Russia Wants To Sell Reactors For Cash U.S. Fears Sale To India Undermines Nuclear Pact

New York Times

Russia’s cash-starved nuclear establishment is planning to sell two nuclear reactors to India, a move that has prompted protests from Washington.

The United States has urged Russia to drop the multibillion-dollar sale, asserting that it violates a 1992 agreement among nuclear suppliers and will hurt international efforts to stem the spread of nuclear weapons.

The brewing dispute underscores East-West tension on nuclear issues, as Russia’s nuclear energy establishment has turned to exports to try to plug a yawning budget gap.

Western experts worry that Russian exports may undermine the bold promises of cooperation on nuclear issues made at a meeting last year between President Boris Yeltsin and Western leaders.

Russia and the United States are already at odds over Moscow’s decision to sell a nuclear reactor to Iran, which the United States insists has begun a determined effort to develop a nuclear weapon.

Russia’s desire to help Cuba complete construction on a nuclear power plant has also caused worries in Florida, which fears that the plant will be unsafe.

Nor are nuclear exports the only worry. Moscow recently touched off a crisis by agreeing to sell an advanced S-300 anti-aircraft system to the Greek Cypriot government. After Turkey threatened military action, the Clinton administration initiated a furious round of diplomacy to soothe tensions in the area.

But Russian nuclear officials are unrepentant about their drive for foreign sales and say the sale of power plants to India will not enhance its military potential.

“We must expand our exports,” Viktor Mikhailov, Russia’s atomic energy minister, told reporters last month. “We will use the export earnings to repay our debts.”

The roots of the Indian dispute go back to 1974, when New Delhi startled the world by conducting a nuclear test. The Indians used plutonium from a research rector sold by Canada for peaceful purposes.