First Deputy Nuclear Power Minister Vitaly Konovalov told Interfax that Washington was demanding cuts of up to half in the price of uranium from scrapped weapons.
Konovalov did not say how much Russia wanted for its uranium, but said Washington was "not very interested in buying Russian uranium" and was trying to renegotiate the price to offer "absolutely unprofitable conditions," Interfax reported.
The deal was struck in outline by presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin in Moscow in January 1994. The government-owned U.S. Enrichment Corporation, or USEC, put the price tag at $12 billion -- $10 billion for Russia, the rest for Ukraine.
U.S. Energy Undersecretary Charles Curtis said Tuesday the United States was confident it could resolve disputes over the 20-year deal and hoped to complete a proposal by June 29 that would solve problems. Under the contract, aimed to help Russia and Ukraine trim their ex-Soviet nuclear arsenal, USEC is to buy about 15,000 metric tons of low-enriched uranium converted from weapons-grade uranium.
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