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| US seeks safe nuclear coalition |
| 2006-02-20 |
| The United States is seeking to build an international coalition of nuclear powers to provide safe fuel and stop sensitive technology reaching rogue states, officials said. Robert Joseph, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, said the programme aims to “prevent future Iran” - a reference to the increasingly tense standoff over suspicions that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. The United States wants to stop “countries which seek to acquire sensitive technology associated with enrichment and reprocessing with real purposes other than nuclear energy,” Joseph said late Thursday. The United States will “work with other advanced nuclear nations to develop a fuel services programmeme that would provide nuclear fuel and recycling services to nations in return for their commitment to refrain from developing enrichment and recycling technologies.” US officials have visited a number of world capitals and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna in recent weeks to press the case for action against Iran and for the safe energy coalition. They went to London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo. “We found agreement with potential partners,” said Clay Sell, the deputy energy secretary. “We want a large international partnership in terms of developing and sharing the fruit of this initiative, because in that way it will become truly a win-win for all of us in terms of energy security, environmental objectives, and of course in terms of non-proliferation,” said Joseph. President George W Bush said on Saturday he hoped to promote greater use of nuclear power both at home and abroad, and said he saw promise in new technology aimed at reducing nuclear waste. Bush has asked the US Congress for $250 million to fund research to restart a controversial programme that would reprocess spent nuclear fuel. The initiative would also involve working with other countries like Russia, France, Japan and Britain to establish an infrastructure to supply nuclear fuel to other nations. “Together, we will develop and deploy innovative, advanced reactors and new methods to recycle spent nuclear fuel,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “This will allow us to produce more energy, while dramatically reducing the amount of nuclear waste and eliminating the nuclear byproducts that unstable regimes or terrorists could use to make weapons,” he added. Bush said the programme, known as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, would eventually be expanded to help emerging economies develop nuclear fuel supplies. “In exchange, these countries would agree to use nuclear power only for civilian purposes and forego uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities that can be used to develop nuclear weapons,” he said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |