MOSCOW, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russian nuclear
fuel producer TVEL expects to sign a $780 million contract on
fuel supplies to Indian nuclear power plants, a spokesman for
Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosatom said on
Saturday.
The contract, if signed, could make Russia the first
country to supply nuclear fuel to India since the Nuclear
Suppliers Group lifted a three-decade ban on nuclear fuel sales
to the country on September 6, 2008.
"The contract is likely to be signed on February 11 in
Mumbai," the spokesman said.
Under the deal, Russia would supply India with 2,000
metric tons of uranium pellets.
In December, the French company Areva and India's Atomic
Energy Department signed a deal for the supply of 300 tons of
uranium to be used in Indian nuclear reactors under
International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
The fuel contract would be another step in burgeoning
nuclear cooperation between Russia and India. On December 5,
Moscow and Delhi signed an agreement to build an additional
four reactors for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, where it
is finishing two reactors under an earlier contract, and
construct new nuclear plants in India.
TVEL is one of the world's leading manufacturers of
nuclear fuel, which it supplies to 73 commercial (17% of global
market) and 30 research reactors in 13 countries.
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