ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The former Soviet republic of Belarus agreed to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, U.S. and Belarusian officials announced Wednesday.
The agreement was revealed after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov during a security summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, The Washington Post reported.
Clinton said the United States would provide Belarus technical and financial assistance to eliminate its stockpile by 2012.
Clinton said she welcomed the decision as a signal that Belarus would work with the United States to staunch the proliferation of weapons-grade material by reconfiguring nuclear plants to run on low-enriched uranium, The New York Times reported.
"I want to publicly thank Belarus for the decision that has been made to eliminate the remaining stock of highly enriched uranium," Clinton said after the meeting. "This is a very significant, important step that Belarus has taken".
Belarus is believed to have at least 88 pounds of weapons-grade uranium -- which is enough for at least eight nuclear weapons -- at a research facility in Sosny, the Post reported. The James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies said the facility also was storing hundreds of pounds of highly enriched uranium, the Post said.
The Times said there were conflicting reports on the amounts of highly enriched uranium stockpiled in Belarus.
The Obama administration had pushed Belarus unsuccessfully for months to get rid of its stockpile. Because no agreement could be reached, Belarus wasn't invited to Obama's 47-nation nuclear security summit last April; however, it is invited to the next summit in 2012 in South Korea. UPI
