Russia suspends plutonium utilization deal with US

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday to suspend an agreement with the United States on disposing of weapons-grade plutonium.

The deal was being suspended due to "the emergence of a threat to strategic stability and as a result of unfriendly actions by the United States of America towards the Russian Federation", the preamble to the decree said.

It also said that the United States was unable "to ensure the implementation of its obligations to utilize surplus weapons-grade plutonium," Reuters reports.

It envisaged ways of disposing of excessive weapons grade plutonium in Russia and the United States, including the production of mixed oxide fuel to be used in nuclear power reactors, conversion into non-weapons-grade form and also burial. It was expected that either side will start eliminating "declassified" amounts of plutonium in an amount of 34 tonnes. Russia converts weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear power plants.

The decree underscores the fact that the plutonium in question "is not used for making nuclear weapons or other explosive devices, for research, development, design work or testing related with such devices or for any other purposes".