Washington, April 13 (DPA) Ukraine plans to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 2012, President Viktor Yanukovych announced after a meeting with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in the US capital.
Ukraine will instead convert its existing civil nuclear facilities to operate with low-enriched uranium, according to a joint statement from the two leaders Monday, who were meeting for the first time since Yanukovych was inaugurated in February.
The details of where Ukraine’s uranium would be transferred had yet to be ironed out, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said both the United States and Russia would play a role in securing Ukraine’s stockpile.
The decision came as Obama was set to host leaders and top officials from 47 nations for a summit aimed at ensuring dangerous nuclear material does not end up in the hands of terrorists. It is the largest summit hosted by a US president since 1945.
Obama in the statement praised Ukraine’s announcement as “a historic step and a reaffirmation of Ukraine’s leadership in nuclear security and non-proliferation.”
Ukraine’s stockpile, left over from the Soviet era, amounted to roughly 90 kg of highly-enriched fuel, or enough for several nuclear weapons, Gibbs said. The US had been working for a decade to get Ukraine to agree to give up its stockpile, Gibbs said.
A “substantial part” of the fuel would be removed by the end of this year, the joint statement said. All uranium will be out of the country by the time of the next nuclear security summit to be held in 2012.
