Russia's state nuclear firm Rosatom said that Russia's state uranium trader Techsnabexport will sign next year at least three deals worth around USD 1 billion to supply uranium directly to US utilities.

Russia has long sought direct deals with US utilities.

Analysts said that this would be more profitable for Moscow than the current program set up in 1993 and aimed to encourage a nation still rebuilding after the Cold War to extract and use fuel from dismantled warheads.

Russia has expressed no desire to renew this 20 year program called Megatons to Megawatts when it expires in 2013. Instead, the Kremlin has sought lucrative deals to supply fuel directly to power firms on the US market.

Rosatom's civilian arm AtomEnergoProm in a statement said that "In 2009. Techsnabexport achieved direct commercial supplies of uranium output to US utilities having signed with them six contracts worth a total of around USD 3 billion. It is expected that at least three such deals worth around USD 1 billion will be signed in 2010."

AtomEnergoProm said that from the moment Russia made the first delivery of its low enriched uranium to the United States on May 31st 1995, it has supplied to date a total of 11,049 tonnes of this material recycled from 382 tonnes of bomb-grade material or highly enriched uranium.

This is equivalent to 76 percent of the 500 tonnes Russia must supply under the 1993 deal. It said that "Thus the 'Megatons to Megawatts' programme has entered its final stage.”

AtomEnergoProm said that without taking into account the Megatons to Megawatt program Russia's portfolio of foreign orders for five year supplies of uranium now stands at more than $8 billion.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the government this week to allocate RUB 14.2 billion (USD 470.2 million) to Rosatom, which would allow Russia to boost its position on the world nuclear energy market through acquisitions of uranium deposits abroad.