Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, and the US Department of Energy (DOE) have signed an agreement to cooperate in nuclear energy research and development, and security.

The R&D agreement covers cooperation in civil nuclear power, including nuclear power plant and reactor fuel design, nuclear and radiation technologies, and radioactive waste management. Special attention will be paid to non-proliferation as well as nuclear and radiation safety, Rosatom said.

According to DOE potential projects covered by the agreement could include international safeguards, establishment of a Multi-Purpose Fast Research Reactor International Research Center, irradiation of fuels and materials in the fast-spectrum research reactor BOR-60, and defence from asteroids, among others.

The United States and Russia are equal partners under the agreement, with each country bearing its own costs, DOE said.

Rosatom said the agreement offers "broad opportunities" for establishing contacts between laboratories and institutes in Russia and the United States to carry out both applied and fundamental research into promising technologies.

The agreement was signed in Vienna on 16 September by Rosatom director general Sergey Kirienko and US secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference.

It builds on the US-Russian agreement to cooperate in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, which game into force in January 2011.

Photo: IAEA 57th General Conference, September 2013 (Source: IAEA)