Vice President Al Gore highlights several accomplishments of the EnergyPolicy Committee consistent with the common U.S. and Russian objective ofreducing the nuclear danger. He commends particularly the successfulcompletion of agreements to convert Russia's three remaining plutoniumproduction reactors so that they no longer produce weapons-gradeplutonium. He notes progress in the area of nuclear safety, includingthrough the cooperative efforts of new nuclear safety centers in eachcountry, and the intent of the U.S. and Russia to increase cooperation onnuclear safety in third countries operating Soviet-era plants. Heencourages the sides to continue working towards a comprehensive approachto disposing of weapons plutonium. Finally, he notes the successfullaunching of materials protection, control, and accounting at theLytkarino facility, the 21st facility in Russia at which such cooperationis taking place.

In the non-nuclear area, the Vice President highlights the competitive selection of Honeywell to work with the Russian cities of Chelyabinsk andKostroma on financial packages for efficiency improvements in Russiandistrict heating systems. He encourages continued work to bring togetherRussian commercial banks with ExIm Bank to finance energy efficiencyprojects. He notes the importance of bringing the nuclear industry intoefforts to restructure the power sector, and commends new cooperation inthe area of energy regulation. The Vice President acknowledges the recentsteps forward that Russia has taken in the area of power and energy sectorreform as well as the cooperative efforts underway to support theindependent regulatory commission in developing fair and consistent energyregulations, and urges the Russian Government to establish the commercialand legal framework necessary for investment in the oil and gas sector.