Russia"s nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko...

At the nuclear summit in Washington on April 12-13, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the Plutonium Disposition Protocol, which stipulates that Russia and the United States would each dispose of 34 metric tons of excess weapons-grade plutonium.

"The final cost of the [disposal] program will become known only when it is completed...We estimate it at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion," Kiriyenko said, adding that the United States will contribute $400 million to the Russian program.

Kiriyenko, who heads the Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said the protocol meets Russia"s interests as it retains the goals of a framework agreement on disposing plutonium, which was signed in 2000.

Russia"s nuclear chief said the agreement will help in "resolving the most important disarmament goal." He said Moscow and Washington have pledged to dispose of their weapons-grade plutonium symmetrically and under joint

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