Russian uranium headed to United States

Apr 08,2009 00:00 by UPI

MOSCOW -- Russia has shipped the year's first batch of low-enriched uranium from dismantled nuclear warheads to the United States, a nuclear power company says.

Atomenergoprom says the shipment that left Tuesday marks the first delivery of 2009 at a new price approved by the governments of both countries, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports.

A bilateral accord between Russia and the United States known as the Megatons to Megawatts agreement seeks to convert 500 metric tons of high-enriched uranium from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons into low-enriched uranium for use in U.S. commercial reactors, RIA Novosti said.

The agreement signed in 1993 expires in 2013.