Russia clamps down on stray nukes

The West fears that Russian nuclear material could be smuggled abroad

President Yeltsin's spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky has said that Russia is creating special supervisory bodies at all companies dealing with nuclear and missile technologies to prevent illegal export of weapons technology abroad.

The announcement comes after a series of reports about sales of such technology to Iran and India and as Russia condemns India's nuclear tests. Our regional analyst Tom de Waal looks at the issues behind Mr Yastrzhembsky's statement.

Russia has been embarrassed this year by a series of reports in US newspapers that it has been supplying sophisticated missile technology to India and Iran.

The West is most worried about leakage of technology and expertise from Russia's vast and underfunded nuclear industry.

The United States has been exerting pressure on Moscow to curtail its construction of a nuclear power station at Bushehr in Iran on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

The Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov strenuously denied reports last week that a lorry-load of parts for Bushehr had been stolen; but he added, worryingly, that he "could not swear" that materials sent by a private company had been stolen.

Fears over "private" operations

The possibility that irresponsible private companies are selling technology without the government's consent is Russia's weakest spot and the point specifically addressed by Mr Yastrzhembsky today, when he announced the creation of the new supervisory bodies.

The "nightmare scenario" as far as Western governments are concerned is that Russian nuclear specialists could be "privatised" by foreign governments.

As one of the world's five official nuclear powers, Russia has an interest in not allowing nuclear proliferation.

But Mr Yastrzhembsky's announcement also therefore seems designed to head off Western criticism at the G8 Summit in Birmingham this weekend that Russia is partly responsible for this proliferation.

Profit motive

Russia also has economic interests. As far as it is concerned, the Bushehr project, worth about $800m, is too lucrative to abandon.

In general, Russia declares that Western hostility to its nuclear and arms deals are commercially motivated and the West is simply trying to drive Russia away from some of the few clients it has left.

No matter that many of them are alleged "rogue states" such as Iran, Syria or Sudan or involved in sensitive territorial disputes, like Cyprus or Armenia.

Earnings from arms exports, once as high as $20bn in 1986, totalled less than $3bn last year.

Mr Yastrzhembsky seems keen to draw a distinction between public commercial deals, which Moscow says are acceptable, and the illegal outflow of equipment.

That will be welcomed in Birmingham and may win Mr Yeltsin a few favours, but the dispute between Moscow and the West over its choice of business partners is far from over.