US - Russia Signed Landmark Enriched Uranium Deal for US Nuclear Power Plants

Added: (Fri Aug 07 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Florida - US utilities: Exelon, Constellation Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., AmerenUE; and Luminant signed over $2 billion package of contracts with Russia's Techsnabexport (Tenex) for delivery between 2011

Atlanta, GA, August 07, 2009 -- In May 2008, the USA and Russia signed a landmark deal on nuclear cooperation to facilitate trade and allow joint ventures between companies. This deal ushered in the dawn of improved Pro-Russian sentiments known as a 123 agreement after the section of the US Atomic Energy Act that required it. The deal was signed in Moscow by the US ambassador to Russia, William Burns, and Sergei Kiriyenko, Director General of the Rosatom Corporation.

Since then, Russian relationship with US Nuclear Power Plant Operators has been at an all-time high. In June 2009, Exelon, an operator and one of one of the largest fleet of nuclear power plants in the USA, demonstrated a bold move by signing a long-term contract with Russia's Techsnabexport (Tenex), whereby Tenex will supply of enriched uranium between 2011 and 2020. The amount of enriched uranium and the monetary value the contract were not disclosed

Other US Nuclear Power Plants including San Francisco, California-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co.; St. Louis, Missouri-based AmerenUE; and Dallas, Texas-based Luminant followed Exelon’s lead and signed a $1 billion package of contracts with Tenex, where Tenex will deliver enriched uranium fuel to these utilities between 2014 and 2020.

These contracts with US utilities are the first to be signed since the conclusion of the Amendment to the Russian Suspension Agreement of February 2008. Under the amended agreement, the USA will import Russian commercial uranium products from 2011 under new legislation. The amendment allows Russia to sell low-enriched uranium (LEU) to US nuclear generators. Russia will be able to supply limited amounts of nuclear fuel for reactor reloads from 2011, while the supply of initial fuel loads for new reactors would be unlimited. All limits are to be phased out by 2021.

The first two Exelon contracts have already been approved by the US Department of Commerce.

A few days ago Tenex announced an additional contract signed with Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) for the supply of enriched uranium. The contract is supposed to meet part of CENG’s demand for nuclear energy in 2015–2025.

The flood gates are now open for other US Nuclear Power Plant Operators to sign contracts with Tenex, taking into account the predicted world-wide shortage of enriched uranium by the year 2011 .

About Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, generates, trades, supplies, and distributes energy. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states (mainly Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and California) under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group. Constellation NewEnergy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Energy, is a leading competitive supplier of electricity, natural gas and energy-related services to commercial, industrial and institutional customers throughout North America. Constellation NewEnergy serves more than 19,000 commercial, industrial and institutional customers throughout 31 states and three Canadian provinces representing nearly 14,000 megawatts of peak load and more than 354 billion cubic feet (1.00×1010 m3) of annual natural gas consumption. Constellation Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of 83 generating units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 9,000 megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in central Maryland.

About Exelon
Exelon Corporation has one of the industry’s largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with approximately $19 billion in annual revenues. Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers in Illinois (ComEd) and Pennsylvania (PECO), and gas to 485,000 customers in the Philadelphia area (PECO) and the third largest commercial nuclear fleet in the world.

About Tenex
Techsnabexport» — brand name TENEX — is owned by Atomenergoprom, which has a 40% share in the world’s uranium enrichment services, 17% in nuclear fuel production, 8% in uranium mining, and 28% in NPP construction (10 reactors). Tenex is the world’s largest exporter of Russian nuclear fuel cycle and delivers uranium products to meet reactor requirements of Nuclear Power Plants in the USA. Tenex product to the USA is low-enriched uranium down-blended from highly enriched uranium extracted from dismantled warheads (HEU-LEU Agreement).
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