Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Brazil Says China Atomic Deal Would Be Peaceful

Wed May 26, 2004 02:03 AM ET



SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has expressed interest in purchasing enriched and unprocessed uranium from Brazil, but the Brazilian government does not yet have the technology or the authority to make such a deal, a Brazilian official said on Wednesday.

Brazilian Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos, who is in charge of Brazil's atomic power program and is visiting China with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was trying to clarify earlier statements that indicated Brazil would consider selling China unprocessed uranium.

Campos told reporters in Shanghai that Brazil will not have the technology to enrich uranium until 2008 and that Congress would have to amend Brazilian law before it could sell unprocessed uranium to a foreign country.

A statement handed out to reporters in Shanghai said Brazil would study the possibility of cooperating with China on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, such as for medical and agricultural purposes. A final decision on any cooperation will be made in August after Brazilian officials meet again with their Chinese counterparts, the statement said.

Brazil is fighting U.S. pressure to allow greater inspections of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

The United States and the IAEA have been pressing countries to open up their nuclear programs after Iran was discovered to be covering up potential arms-related atomic research.

Although Brazil is constitutionally barred from owning nuclear weapons, it has a small atomic power program and is home to the world's fourth-largest reserve of uranium.

Late Tuesday, a ministry spokeswoman said the sale of uranium to China would allow Brazil to finance its nuclear power program, which has been criticized for being underfunded. It needs $1.8 billion to finish its third nuclear energy plant.

China is one of five recognized nuclear powers, along with the United States, Russia, France and Britain. Brazil and China are both signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Brazil and the IAEA have been talking since December about ways to inspect Brazil's uncompleted nuclear facility without jeopardizing commercial secrets, Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Roberto Abdenur said earlier this month.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.




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