Moscow summit yields little visible progress on nuclear cooperation

U.S. president Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitriy Medvedev met in Moscow on July 6-7 to discuss a range of pressing issues on the international and bilateral agenda. One of the deliverables of the Moscow summit was a Joint Statement on Nuclear Cooperation. The summit, however, yielded little visible progress on plutonium disposition. Further, on conversion of Russian research reactors, the sides again agreed to cooperate "on conducting feasibility studies to explore possibilities for conversion of such individual reactors in the United States and Russia." The two also presidents created a bilateral presidential commission, which will include a working group on nuclear energy and nuclear security. This WG will be headed up by Rosatom's Sergey Kiriyenko and Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman.