USA to render financial aid to Russia

On March 11 in Vienna, Russia and the USA will sign an agreement, according to which the USA will provide financial assistance to Russia in closing three Russian nuclear reactors that produce plutonium for weapons, Russian Atomic Minister Alexander Rumyantsev told journalists today after his report in the State Duma. He pointed out that the counties had been negotiating on this issue for a long time already and the financial assistance might amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. However, he refused to specify the sum.

The minister noted that these reactors could not be shutdown because they provided electricity and heating to the nearby towns. It is necessary to create some other energy generating facilities to replace the reactors and the USA has promised to help us solve this problem, Rumyantsev added.