Russia, EU start work on civilian nuclear power deal - Rosatom

(RIA Novosti) - Russia and the European Union are working on an agreement on the civilian use of atomic energy, a deputy head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday.

"We are now starting consultations with the European Union on an agreement on the civilian use of nuclear power," Nikolai Spassky, who is in charge of international cooperation, said.

Spassky said Rosatom hopes the issue of supply quotas for Russian nuclear products for the European market will be resolved as part of a new cooperation and partnership agreement.

He said the EU is showing some progress in resolving this issue. "The EU has voiced its readiness to move to abolish the Corfu declaration," he said.

Russian supplies are restricted by the so called Corfu declaration, an internal EU document, to 20% of the overall amount of nuclear fuels and materials supplied for European nuclear power plants.

The previous partnership agreement between Russia and the EU expired in 2007.