Soviets’ $200M nuclear business

Press, 25 May 1977, Page 9

Soviets’ $200M nuclear business

NZPA Washington | Two-thirds of the uranium! now fueling Western Euro-■ pean nuclear power plants passes through nuclear enrichment plants in the Soviet Union, a senior American State Department official has said. Some of the uranium pro- I cessed in the Soviet Union I either originates or is stored in the United States, according to Mr Joseph Nye, deputy to the Under-Secretary for Security Assistance. Testifying before a Senate Foreign Relations Sub-com-mittee, Mr Nye said that the Russians do about SUS2OOM in uranium enrichment busi-i ness with West European l nations, including West Ger-) many and France. Mr Nye said that the Soviets simply charge less than the Americans for the service of putting raw uranium into a form in which it

can be used in nuclearpower electrical generating plants.

With plans to build ex-

panded enrichment facilities in either Ohio or Tennessee, Mr Nye said that the United States hopes to eventually take care of both foreign and domestic needs. “This comes as a shock to m\” the Democratic Senator John Glenn, of Ohio, said when informed of the extent the Russians dominate the European uranium enrichment business.

He testified on proposals to tighten the rules under which nuclear fuels are supplied by the United States to other countries.

Senator Glenn wants to set narrow limits on conditions under which nations ( can obtain uranium from the United States, while the Carter Administration wants more freedom to negotiate such conditions.