As you may have heard, Kiriyenko and Burns signed the Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy today in Moscow. (RIA Novosti) I’ll update this post with more links later on. For now, here is the corresponding Rosatom press release.

The White House also issued a press release stating that the “President is pleased” at the signing of the 123 Agreement, which

“will provide a framework for potential commercial sales of civil nuclear commodities to Russia by U.S companies… [and] pave the way for further cooperation under both bilateral and multinational programs and initiatives on nuclear energy and nonproliferation, such as the July 2007 U.S.-Russia Declaration on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).”

Check out the Presidential Determination 2008-19, which states…

“I have determined that the performance of the Agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and security. Pursuant to section 123 b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2153(b)), I hereby approve the proposed Agreement and authorize the Secretary of State to arrange for its execution.”

Also, chew on a great Nuclear Threat Initiative issue brief on the U.S.-Russian 123 that a CNS colleague wrote some time back.