Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Moscow does not plan to supply deuterium to Iran, denying a rumor that a negotiation about the business is underway between the two sides.

"Russia is cooperating with Iran in the sphere of peaceful usage of atomic energy within the framework of the appropriate intergovernmental agreements that do not envisage Russia supplyingheavy hydrogen to Tehran," the ministry said in a statement.

The remarks came amid reports from Vienna that Iran agents are negotiating with a Russian company on purchasing deuterium, or heavy hydrogen that can boost nuclear explosions in atomic weapons.

Deuterium is used as a tracer molecule in medicine and biochemistry and is used in heavy water reactors of the type Iran is building. But it can also be combined with tritium and used as a "booster" in nuclear fusion bombs of the implosion type.

It is not illegal for Iran to purchase deuterium but it should be reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Russia is helping Iran build an 800-million-dollar nuclear power plant in the coastal city of Bushehr.

The United States has accused Iran of using the plant as a cover to develop nuclear weapons and has urged Russia to freeze the project. Both Russia and Iran have dismissed the US allegations, vowing to continue their nuclear cooperation. E

Source: Xinhua