UN’s Atomic Energy Agency Singles Out Brazil as Example of Cooperation

IAEA chief El Baradei The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El Baradei, praised Brazil's nuclear program saying that the Brazilian atomic energy program did not cause the same concern as in other countries.

The chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency made his comments, earlier this week, while visiting in Brazil a uranium enrichment plant capable of producing fuel for nuclear reactors.

"Our inspectors are here all the time, and they are working in close cooperation with the Brazilian authorities" he said – implicitly comparing it with lesser access to Iran's program, which has been a source of concern to the US and European countries.

A US intelligence review released Wednesday concluded that Iran stopped developing atomic weapons in 2003. El Baradei called the report a "sigh of relief" because its findings jibed with his agency's conclusions.

Brazil has two operating nuclear plants and in June restarted work on long-planned third plant, stalled since the 1980s by lack of funds.

"Lately, we see a lot of interest into the expansion of nuclear power because of concerns about climate change, because of the competition for gas and oil, because of the increased need for energy to develop," said El Baradei while touring the plant in Resende, 165 kilometers northwest of Rio de Janeiro.

"We also need to understand that nuclear in many ways provides energy independence."

El Baradei said the agency is working closely with Brazil "to ensure that all nuclear facilities in Brazil are used in a safe, secure way and exclusively for peaceful purposes".

Brazil has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Brazil's constitution bans the military use of nuclear energy. Brazil also has the world's sixth-largest uranium reserves and the largest nuclear power industry in Latin America.

Brazil plans as many as seven new atomic plants to reduce its dependence on oil and hydroelectric power and plans to export enriched uranium to provide energy for other countries.

Mercopress

Tags:

You May Also Like

Best-seller Books, Plays and Movies

By Brazzil Magazine PLAYS RIO Um Ato para Clarice (An Act for Clarice)—Monologue with ...

Brazil's Bosisio frigate

Brazil and US Join in War Games Off Argentina’s Coast

Until next Friday naval units from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Spain and the United States ...

Elisete

Elisete, the Brazilian Singing Bird from Israel

Her name is Elisete, she is a singer and songwriter. She was born in ...

UN Says Violence and Impunity Culture Still Persists in Brazil

On May 25 the Committee of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United ...

Brazil’s VO2Max, a High-Tech Sports Apparel Maker, Looks Overseas for Growth

Sports clothes maker wants to export For Brazilian cyclist Marcelo Torres, from BrasÀ­lia, the ...

British Say Sorry for Brazilian Killed by Police on Subway

An official report says Britain's senior counter-terrorism police officer deliberately misled his own commissioner ...

Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago Talk Energy Business

A group of Brazilian businessmen arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, September 25, ...

Brazil’s Pragmatic, Anti-American Look at Beijing’s Olympics

Brazilian people’s feelings about the Olympic games in Beijing are as diverse as the ...

What the World Needs Is a Tsunami of Conscience

I arrived at the Colombo airport at two in the morning on Sri Lankan ...

Brazil Joins Java Community to Spread Free Software

Brazil signed a contract, yesterday, with the Java Community Process (JCP), with the intention ...