Soviets OK Nuclear Plant Checks; U.S. Cautiously Welcomes Offer

The Soviet Union has agreed to permit international inspection of two electric-generating nuclear reactors, the State Department said Tuesday, confirming a report that Moscow had eased its longstanding refusal to permit on-site inspection of its facilities.

Calling the move “an important step,” the department nonetheless cautioned that the facilities covered by the agreement reached with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency are among Moscow’s least sensitive. Department spokesman Bernard Kalb noted also that the agreement specifies that inspections apply only to installations selected by the Soviet authorities.

It is understood that the atomic energy agency will inspect two Soviet reactors within the next few weeks to ensure that they are being used exclusively for peaceful generation of electricity and not for military purposes.

Adamant in Refusal

Weapons-related programs are not covered by the inspections. However, the Soviets in the past have been as adamant in their refusal to permit inspections of civilian projects as they have been in rejecting military inspections.

“We are very pleased that the Soviet Union has agreed to permit safeguards, including on-site inspection, to be applied by the IAEA to certain of its civil nuclear facilities designated by the Soviet Union,” Kalb said.

“The unilateral acceptance by the Soviet Union of on-site inspection in the Soviet Union in its safeguards agreement with the IAEA is an important step,” he continued. “On the other hand, it must be recognized that the offer by the Soviet Union and its agreement with the IAEA apply only to facilities that the Soviet Union chooses and, at least at present, are the least sensitive types of Soviet nuclear facilities.”

The Soviets acted just three weeks before the Aug. 27 opening in Geneva of a conference to review the 15-year-old nuclear nonproliferation treaty, intended to halt the spread of nuclear weapons while permitting nuclear powers to share peaceful technology. The new agreement is certain to produce public relations benefits for Moscow at the conference.

Extension Offered

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev announced last week that the Soviets will stop all nuclear testing for the rest of this year. He said the moratorium would be extended if the United States agreed to join it.

President Reagan rejected the overture, however, because, he said, the Soviets have just completed a series of nuclear tests while a similar American series has not yet begun. Reagan said Washington would consider a total ban on testing once it completes the experiments needed to develop a warhead for the proposed Midgetman missile.