Japan and France agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in developing "high-level" nuclear power technologies, the leaders of the two countries said.
- Edited by April Murelio -
According to a report by the Kyodo News, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon shared the view that the two countries should put up a united front against emerging low-cost nuclear technologies, putting top priority on developing safe reactors.
During their talks in Tokyo, Fillon also said Japan should make every possible effort to reduce its non-tariff barriers to European imports if it is to seek a free trade accord with the European Union. France is a member of the 27-nation bloc.
"We agreed that it is important for the nuclear power industry to seek extremely high-level security," Fillon said at a joint press conference yesterday after the talks. "It must not be a cost-saving industry. We need to prove how much we need nuclear energy with its safety ensured."
Kan said, "We discussed our cooperation on nuclear power (development) in reference to some concrete examples and agreed to promote such cooperation in an aggressive manner."
The talks between the two nations seem to be brokered by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which is planning to take stake in French state-owned energy group Areva -- the firm that has plans to raise about Euro 10 billion by 2012 to fund its expansion and research and development into a new generation of nuclear power plants.