US to Allow S. Korea to Reprocess Spent Nuclear Fuel for Research Purposes

10/30/2014 9:54:59 AM

(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Seoul October 30 (QNA) - South Korea and the United States are said to be making final preparations to sign a revised atomic energy agreement within the year.

According to officials familiar with the revision negotiations South Korea will be allowed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel after getting prior consent from the US The officials said South Korea has already acquired the consent to reprocess spent fuel for research purposes.

The agreement is also said to allow South Korea to alter in form or content spent nuclear fuel for research and development purposes according to Korea's (KBS WORLD) website.

Such an agreement is expected to enable South Korea and the US to make significant progress in their joint research on pyroprocessing or electrochemical recycling of spent fuel.

On the issue of uranium enrichment South Korea will be allowed to conduct this process with prior consent from the US. The two countries also decided to strengthen bilateral cooperation to secure fuel for nuclear power plants.

In terms of exporting nuclear power plants the US will not be allowed to arbitrarily overstep its authority in supplying parts or exercising patent rights.

Experts say the revision would be an improvement in protecting South Korea's nuclear sovereignty which some have said was hampered under the current accord.

Seoul and Washington have been engaging in negotiations to revise the 40-year-old bilateral agreement since 2010 but only managed to agree on an extension of the accord last year delaying the expiration date from 2014 to 2016.

If the final deal is signed South Korea will be able to raise energy efficiency and reduce waste in the long-term. Under the current accord South Korea has not been able to recycle or conduct research with over 13-thousand tons of spent fuel in storage. (QNA)

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