Israel Vows to Build Civilian Nuclear Plants

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Regionale samenwerking met civiele nucleaire energie.
Klinkt goed, maar hoe ernstig gemeend is het ;)

Groet / Cees

March 9, 2010
Israel Vows to Build Civilian Nuclear Plants
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/world/middleeast/10nukes.html
By STEVEN ERLANGER

PARIS — Israel, widely believed to have nuclear weapons and possessing
no oil, said on Tuesday that it intended to develop civilian nuclear
plants for energy, offering to build one as a joint project with Jordan,
under French supervision.

The Israeli infrastructure minister, Uzi Landau, told a Paris conference
that Israel wanted a cleaner, more reliable source of energy than the
large amounts of coal now imported. He said that regional cooperation on
civilian nuclear power could help bind the Middle East.

Jordan, however, said any such cooperation was premature before a
settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jordan, like Egypt, has
been talking about building a civilian nuclear power plant for some time.

Iran, already subject to sanctions by the United Nations Security
Council, insists that its nuclear program is purely for civilian
purposes, but Western governments believe its intentions are military.

Still, Israel’s announcement here may further complicate efforts to get
the Security Council to impose new sanctions on Iran.

Syria, at the same Paris conference, sponsored by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, said that it is also considering
building a nuclear power plant; Israel bombed what is believed to have
been a secret Syrian nuclear reactor in September 2007. The reactor,
built with North Korean help, was allegedly designed for the production
of plutonium. Syria insists that Israel bombed an unused military facility.

Syria is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has
expressed disappointment with Syria’s refusal to answer outstanding
questions about the supposed nuclear reactor.

Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faysal Mekdad, told the conference that
Syria also wanted alternative energy sources. “The peaceful application
of nuclear energy should not be monopolized by the few that own this
technology but should be available equally for all,” he said.

Israel has never admitted that it has nuclear weapons, and it has
refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel is a member of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, and Mr. Landau said that any nuclear
power plant would be subject to international safeguards.

Israel has chosen a location in the northern Negev desert. “In a region
like the Middle East, we can only depend on ourselves,” Mr. Landau said.
“Building a nuclear reactor to produce electricity will allow Israel to
develop energy independence.”

Israel’s nuclear reactor at Dimona was built with French help in the
1950’s and was reportedly used for weapons production. When a former
worker there, Mordechai Vanunu, leaked the story to the Sunday Times of
London in 1986, he was hunted down and arrested, spending 18 years in
jail. Israel has another, smaller research reactor at Nahal Soreq.

France is a major vendor of civilian nuclear technology. Under President
Nicolas Sarkozy, France has maintained close ties to Israel while it has
reached out to Damascus, as well, trying to bring Syria in from
diplomatic isolation and restart peace talks with Israel.

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