A senior Brazilian official said on Monday that the South American nation plans to begin enriching uranium next year and possibly export the product a decade later.
Such a move would technically give Brazil the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon, but Science and Technology Minister Roberto Amaral said the proposed uranium program was aimed at guaranteeing the country's energy supply, which is heavily reliant on hydro-electric power.
He also said the move had already been approved by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose government is considering dusting off old plans to build a third nuclear power plant in Latin America's largest country.
"This is something that could not be decided against the president's will," Amaral told reporters.
Brazil first announced it had the ability to enrich uranium in the late 1980s, but has never actually produced it at home. The uranium currently used in its nuclear plants is enriched in Europe.
If Brazil does begin enriching uranium, the move is likely to raise eyebrows in Argentina and the US. Both countries have voiced concern in the past about the extent of Brazil's nuclear energy and research program.
In January, just as the US was facing a possible nuclear crisis with North Korea and was preparing for war with Iraq over its weapons programs, Amaral made headlines in neighboring Argentina by arguing that Brazil should not rule out acquiring the ability to produce an atomic bomb.
At the time, a spokesman for Lula was quick to distance the president from Amaral's remarks, saying the government favored research in nuclear energy "solely and exclusively for peaceful purposes."
Amaral struck a more cautious note on Monday, saying the program's ultimate goal was to reach self-sufficiency in uranium by 2014 and export any excess output, especially to the US and France.
"We're paying close attention to the revival of the US nuclear program," he said, referring to growing interest in building new nuclear power stations in the US.
Under the program, Brazil will invest US$87 million so that by 2010 it can produce 60 percent of all the uranium used at the country's two nuclear power plants, Angra 1 and 2, located on the coast south of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil has 600,000 tonnes of uranium reserves, "enough to keep Angra 1 and 2 going for a thousand years," Amaral said.
Until the mid-1980s, Brazil and Argentina had programs aimed at developing the ability to produce nuclear weapons. Those programs were scrapped after military dictatorships in both countries gave way to democratic rule.
The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 forbids the development of nuclear weapons or their presence in the country. Brazil has also been a signatory nation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty since 1995.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was