MOSCOW -- Russian and U.S. officials are to sign an agreement on civilian nuclear power that would reverse decades of little cooperation and hand Russia lucrative deals on storing spent nuclear fuel.
A U.S. Embassy official says the deal is to be signed Tuesday, the last day of Vladimir Putin's presidency. Dmitry Medvedev succeeds Putin as president Wednesday.
Work on the agreement got under way after Putin and President Bush pledged to increase cooperation in this field at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg in 2006.
The Bush administration's willingness to reverse course and work with Russia appears to reflect the U.S. view that Moscow is now a partner in the effort to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
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