France and Algeria have signed an agreement on civil nuclear co-operation during a visit to Algiers by the French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon.
Mr Fillon described the agreement as a sign of a “transformation” in the countries’ ties.
Relations were very bad for years after the Algerian war of independence forced France to abandon its treasured colony. (more…)
Argentina is willing stepping up cooperation with Algeria, aiming to developing the nuclear project which was acquired by Algeria in the 80’s, or when Algeria bought its first nuclear plant, Noor, with 3 megawatt capacity, situated in Draria, western Algiers, the Argentina Ambassador to Algeria, HEM Bibiana Jones, said. (more…)
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — France and Algeria agreed to cooperate on civilian nuclear technologies Tuesday, while French oil and gas giant Total SA signed a deal to build a petrochemical complex in the North African country.
The announcements came during French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s three-day visit to Algeria, his first full state visit to the ex-French colony since his May election. (more…)
PARIS: Six months into his term, President Nicolas Sarkozy is aggressively pursuing a new policy to give Muslim countries access to nuclear power - and win lucrative contracts for France’s energy champions in the process.
After signing a memorandum of understanding with Libya in the summer, Sarkozy struck a preliminary cooperation accord with Morocco last month. Diplomats say he is planning to discuss nuclear power during trips to Algeria in December and Saudi Arabia in January. (more…)
CAIRO, Nov. 5 (UPI) — Egypt’s first nuclear power plant will be online within 10 years, the convention of the country’s ruling National Democratic Party was told at the weekend.
“The first station should be working in 2017-2018,” said Gamal Mubarak, son of President Hosni Mubarak and head of the party’s powerful Policy Secretariat.
Mubarak said Sunday in a speech to the party’s ninth convention that the nuclear program would ensure Egypt’s energy independence by 2022.
The party will “start work on implementing Egypt’s nuclear program, which includes the building of four nuclear power stations by 2022, with energy output equal to 7 million tons of petrol,” he said.
President Mubarak announced last week that Egypt would re-launch its nuclear power program — making it the latest of 11 Arab nations to unveil plans for nuclear energy in the past year, according to Bloomberg News. The others are Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
Minister of Electricity Hassan Younis said the following day that Egypt will most likely buy nuclear fuel rather than produce its own.
Egypt originally launched a nuclear energy program in the 1950s, during the heyday of President Gamal Nasser’s developmental ambitions, but it was abruptly shelved in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told an energy conference here last week that the EU was willing to aid Egypt in ensuring the safety of any nuclear plants it builds.
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Shaun Waterman, UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
