Israel to unveil plans to create nuclear generated power
Minister to officially tell Paris energy conference Israel plans to build plant overseen by France.
By Reuters Tags: UN Security Council Israel nuclear Shimon Peres Israel newsIsrael will unveil this week plans to produce nuclear-generated electricity, officials said on Monday, a move that could draw fresh international attention towards its assumed atomic arsenal.
Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau will tell an energy conference in Paris on Tuesday that Israel is officially looking into the possibility of building a nuclear power plant, his ministry said in a statement.
Israel already has two nuclear reactors - the Dimona facility in the southern desert, where it is widely assumed to have produced atomic weapons, and a research reactor, open to international inspection, at Nahal Soreq near Tel Aviv.
The ministry said Landau had discussed with French Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo the possibility of cooperating on building a nuclear plant, together with neighbouring Jordan. The project would be overseen by France and use its technology.
Borloo voiced "great interest" and promised to discuss the idea with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the ministry said.
"Israel is interested in being part of the circle of countries producing electricity from nuclear energy," Landau said in a statement. "In a region like the Middle East, we can only depend on ourselves. Building a nuclear reactor to produce electricity will allow Israel to develop energy independence."
"Nuclear technology has many positive uses that are able to serve peaceful purposes and purposes of cooperation," he said.
In the 1950s, France helped Israel build the Dimona reactor, a project spearheaded by current Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Israel neither confirms nor denies having weapons of mass-destruction, under an "ambiguity" policy billed as warding off foes while avoiding provocations that can spark arms races.
Unlike other countries in the region, Israel has not signed the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which curbs the spread of nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential.
Yet Israel does have a delegation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN watchdog.
Landau's ministry would not provide immediate details on what treaties Israel envisaged applying to the proposed nuclear energy plant.
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Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau. |
| Photo by: (Tess Scheflan) |
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...one, Yuval Neeman, a great scientist. But the others.... Of course, I love nuclear power. and participated a little in it 20 years ago. But in Israel? With Syria around the corner?
+++++ start irony ++++++ A big, beautyful nuclear power plant for Israel, what a nice idea ! As close to Tel-Aviv as possible. And please do not forget to mount a highly visible fire target on it. So not a single missile will miss it. +++++ end irony +++++ In ernest, if you are planning this, make sure the reactor is buried deep underground !
Nice touch. Sharing the costs with the Camelot Kingdom. This baby will cost at least 3 Billion US. The French have already signed off on a number of such plants, especially in the Gulf. No doubt, clean nuclear energy is the future. The folks in Tehran will wonder how many centrifuges etc are going to spin, that is, will Jordan become a spin doctor with all the hype that they have given us over the years. I heard that the fiddlers have developed a new cruise missile that can be launched from a submarine or even a helicopter. Soon enough the fiddlers will have a moon base. Good luck to both Israel and Jordan. How they will finance said venture is another question. Hello, Washington, your Health-care program may well be safe. My guess is that the French have somehow found the answer. Good night from FREEZING Swiss Alps.
Maybe they're beginning to understand Iran's need. BTW, I hope it's not the American taxpayer who's paying. Build it. I approve. Salaam/Shalom
The IAEA has finally officially published GOV/2010/10 which is available at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2010/gov2010-10.pdf Comparison with reports of it's contents in various media and on these forums may be in order.
Israel has been a member of the IAEA since 1957. It has never signed the NPT. I doubt if it ever will.
one less thing to lie about
I hope the Israelis will be asking for Iran's permission before proceeding... esp given they seem to think Iran need their permission to build their power stations. what.. a ridiculous suggestion??.... exactly..!
1) The waste end of nuclear power still has not been resolved. Given Israel's poor record of disposing of its toxic chemicals (see Ramat Hovav - an EPA-level superfund site), we're likely not going to do better in the nuclear waste department (not that there are any global solutions. 2) Our solar power technology is ready to go into operation and already is elsewhere, just not here. 3) Don't we look just a tad bit hypocritical, considering we're doing everything we can to stop nuclear power production in Iran? Can power production be separated from weapons production or not? 4) We're lookin' pretty lame.
Iran is a moot point - Israel cannot have its cake and eat it too- the race in the region! Last one there is a fried tomato! :)
They will show how this is done legally
By the article, it would seem not for producing electricity and not a research reactor.