SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2003
Japan to help Russia dismantle nuclear subs
AP
MOSCOW: Japan pledged US$200 million Saturday to help Russia dismantle its nuclear submarines as the Japanese foreign minister toured the facility where they are taken apart in Russia's Far East.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi attended a signing ceremony for the project by officials from both countries at the Zvezda plant in Bolshoi Kamen in the Primoriye region on the Sea of Japan, Interfax news agency reported.
She also saw a floating facility used for processing spent nuclear fuel at the facility. The money pledged by Japan will go toward dismantling 42 nuclear subs being decommissioned by the Russian navy, Interfax reported.
The United States has also given some US$120 million for work at Zvezda, but that funding is to end this year and the facility has been searching for more sponsors.
Russia has decommissioned about 190 nuclear-powered submarines over the past 15 years. Officials say 90 of those still languish at docks with nuclear fuel in their reactors, fueling worries of environmental hazards or that radioactive materials could fall into the hands of terrorists.
Kawaguchi said the agreement would lead to further cooperation not only in the environmental sector but all spheres of bilateral relations, ITAR-Tass news agency reported. She noted the Far East had long been closed to foreigners during Soviet times, but that now Russia was opening up as it developed a market economy.
Kawaguchi is in Russia's Far East on a two-day visit that continues Sunday with talks on a planned oil pipeline in eastern Siberia.
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