"We have a choice: we can play a risky game of catch-up in the coming decades or we can engage the world with a new, safer and more secure approach to nuclear energy," US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said ahead of a G8 energy meeting in Moscow.

The United States launched the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) last month as part of President George W. Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative while the international community struggles to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"We envision the GNEP as an international collaboration that seeks to increase the availability of clean emissions-free power for the world, reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and decrease the volume and radio toxicity of nuclear waste," Bodman said.

"We will work with our international partners to develop a fuel services programme to supply developing nations with reliable access to nuclear fuel in exchange for a commitment to forego the development of enrichment and recycling technology," he added.

Initial consultations on the programme with British, Chinese, French, Japanese and Russian partners had been encouraging, Bodman said, adding that 250 million dollars (208 million euros) had already been allocated by the United States for the initiative.

In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a global nuclear fuel network under United Nations control that would consist of sites for processing uranium to give all countries equal access to nuclear energy and offered to create such a centre in Russia.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has a mandate of encouraging nuclear energy but also stopping arms proliferation.

But those twin aims can clash in the case of a country such as Iran, which insists it has a right to enrich uranium for a nuclear energy programme, even though the United States and European powers suspect its real aim is to develop an atomic bomb.

Russia, currently chairing the G8 group of the world's leading industrialised nations, was playing host Wednesday and Thursday to a meeting of energy ministers amid global concern over soaring fuel costs, security of supplies and environmental pollution from hydrocarbon fuels.

Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are expected to attend the G8 meeting in Moscow, along with officials from Brazil, China, India and South Africa.

In Europe, only Finland and France have started building new nuclear power stations but several countries, including Britain and Germany, have re-opened a debate on the viability and safety of nuclear energy.

China has initiated a vast programme to build 40 nuclear reactors by 2020 and India has recently signed nuclear cooperation agreements with France and the United States. Putin has said he wants to expand nuclear power in Russia.

related report

Libya Signs Nuclear Research Deal With France
Tripoli (AFP) Mar 16 - Libya and France signed an accord Wednesday on peaceful nuclear research, the first deal of its kind since Moamer Kadhafi abandoned efforts to build weapons of mass destruction in 2003.

"This accord represents a qualitative leap in relations between the two countries and proves that Libya has transformed its weapons of mass destruction into constructive weapons," Public Works Minister Maatuk Maatuk said at the signing ceremony.

"Libya is reaping the benefit of its decision to get rid of WMDS. We hope this accord will enable us to develop cooperation (with other countries) on peaceful programmes," he added.

"We are telling the world that we are moving towards the development of Libyan nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."

In a dramatic diplomatic move in December 2003, Kadhafi announced that Libya was giving up efforts to build nuclear, chemical and biological weapons after months of secret negotiations with Britain and the United States.

Since the former pariah state returned to the international fold, Western leaders have visited Kadhafi in order to stake out their place in the country's newly-opened economy.

French President Jacques Chirac visited in November 2004 after Libya agreed in January of that year to pay compensation over the downing in 1989 of a French airliner over Niger.

Libya, which also agreed a compensation package for victims of the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, has never admitted responsibility for either incident.

During Chirac's visit Kadhafi said he hoped the transfer of technology would permit the oil-rich nation to develop a nuclear programme for peaceful means.

On that occasion Chirac -- the first French head of state to visit Tripoli since Libyan independence from Italy in 1951 -- vowed to forge a "true partnership" with Libya.

In Febrary last year, France and Libya renewed their cooperation on defence issues, which had been suspended since the 1980s when Tripoli invaded Chad.

French companies are also involved in exploring for oil in the North African desert country.

Libya's proven oil reserves are estimated at 36 billion barrels according to figures from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but rights for prospecting have been granted for only a quarter of the country.

Alain Bugat of France's atomic energy commission said at the signing ceremony that Paris was able to sign the protocol after Libya's "couragous decision" to give up WMDS, saying it was an example for others to follow.

The deal comes as the international community is pushing Iran to halt sensitive nuclear work, which the United States claims is a cover for efforts to build an atomic bomb.

The protocol covers research and use of nuclear technology in medical and agricultural fields, among others.

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