'France willing to reprocess uranium for India'
Our Bureau New Delhi, Jan. 30 France has indicated its willingness to consider taking back uranium for reprocessing if India is not in a position to reprocess the entire amount. "India has a reprocessing facility which will be put under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. So for us the best is that the fuel is reprocessed here. (But) India does not have enough capabilities. We will consider the option of taking the fuel back to France for reprocessing," the French Ambassador to India, Mr Jerome Bonnafont, said on Friday. He was speaking at a luncheon meeting organised by the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry here. This comes in the wake of the recent signing of an agreement between India and France which is to see Areva deliver 300 tonnes of uranium to India. "This contract is to be implemented in the next few weeks and months. There is nothing holding back implementation of the contract. It is simply that you need to gather the uranium, package it, organise the transport and (get through the) legal methods involved," Mr Bonnafont said. He added that a French delegation is to visit India later this year to scout for opportunities in the civil nuclear field. "The delegation should be here some time towards the middle of the year. Not only the delegation will have Areva and Alsthom people, but also include those involved in civil engineering, legal matters, financing, training, safety and security. All the aspects that go around the construction of a nuclear power plant," Mr Bonnafont said. On making N-deal public Asked why details of the India-France nuclear agreement had not been made public yet, the Ambassador said that French laws did not permit this. "French laws say that you do not make an international agreement public before it has been presented to the Parliament, which we are in the process of doing now. When it comes to the content of the agreement, if you read the Franco-Indian declaration of 2008, the content of the Agreement is explained. The text is not there but the substance is," he said. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/01/31/stories/2009013151930100.htm ekamber --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
