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WASHINGTON - The United States and Russia are expected to sign an agreement soon to allow enhanced civilian nuclear cooperation but Moscow's ties with Iran continue to loom as a potential complication.
US officials told Reuters the agreement is nearly done and one official said it could be initialled soon, perhaps before US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at the Bush family retreat at Kennebunkport, Maine, on July 1 and 2.
At a time when US-Russian relations have grown more complex and testy, the meeting is designed to let the two leaders "step back, consider how to avoid rhetorical escalation and concentrate on a common agenda," US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried recently told a Senate committee.
The 123 agreement, so called because it falls under section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, is critical to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, which the United States and Russia have discussed for more than a year as a way to expand peaceful nuclear energy development and mitigate proliferation risks.
"This is a serious initiative. It is moving ahead. We need a 123 agreement to keep moving," Fried told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "But happily this is an area where we are making steady progress and hope to continue to do so."
Such an agreement marks a significant change in US policy. Under the Clinton administration, most nuclear cooperation with Russia was prohibited because of Moscow's pivotal role in building Iran's $US800 million ($NZ1.067 billion) nuclear power plant at Bushehr.
But Bush administration officials, arguing Russia has increasingly co-operated on Iran and other non-proliferation issues, reversed that.
Iran has defied repeated demands by the UN Security Council to halt uranium enrichment, which can be used in both weapons and energy production, at a facility called Natanz.
The United States and other major powers say Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons but Tehran insists it only wants to produce electricity.
While Moscow remains formally committed to the Bushehr project, which is supposed to be for electricity generation, it has delayed providing fuel for the facility and has joined the United States and other major powers in voting for two sets of UN sanctions against Iran.
At the same time, Russia -- along with China -- has often defended Iran and put up a vigorous struggle each time to weaken proposed sanctions.
Once the US-Russia 123 agreement is initialled and then signed, Bush would send it to Congress, which has 90 days to act. If Congress does nothing, the agreement goes into effect. If lawmakers want to block it, they must pass a resolution of disapproval.
Even if Congress lets the 123 agreement take effect, the accord could be stymied by legislation approved earlier this week by the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee.
The bill, which still must be voted on by the full House and Senate, is intended to force Bush to sanction oil and gas companies doing business with Iran.
But it also would bar bilateral cooperation agreements "with Russia or with any other countries assisting Iran's nuclear or missile or advanced conventional weapons programmes."
The American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness, which represents nuclear and energy experts, has backed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia.
The council says the accord would help the United States gain access to Russia's fast-spectrum reactor technology while providing Russia with the opportunity to learn from America's extensive fast reactor experience.
But the group warned that any deal should not undermine the re-emerging US uranium industry with increased Russian imports.
- REUTERS
