Quake-prone Chile and the United States signed a nuclear energy co-operation pact on Friday while Japan confronted the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in the wakee of a devastating earthquake Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno and US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff signed the accord before President Barack Obama arrives in Santiago on Monday.
The pact enables co-operation in the use of nuclear energy in agriculture, medicine and industries, as well as the management of nuclear waste. The agreement has stirred controversy in Chile as Japan scrambles to contain a nuclear crisis that has forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate a week after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunamis damaged a nuclear plant on its coast.
"I understand the current public opinion, but these things offer opportunities to learn," Moreno said after signing the deal. "Chile wants to understand ... what happened in Japan, a country with the same seismic characteristics." Chile, which suffered its own devastating earthquake of 8.8 magnitude last year, has two nuclear reactors for scientific research.
The government has stressed that no decision to adopt nuclear power will be made during the current administration, ending in 2014. Chile has said it needs to double energy supply in 10 years to cope with rising demand. Chile relies heavily on fuel imports, producing barely any crude of its own and a droughts have repeatedly drained output from hydroelectric plants.
The United States has maintained its support for expanding US use of nuclear energy despite renewed fears about its safety after the events in Japan. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week the crisis raised questions about the use of nuclear energy in the United States.
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