China, France sign nuclear cooperation deal

July 14th, 2009 PARIS - India and France on Tuesday reiterated their commitment to strengthen cooperation on countering the menace of terrorism. A statement released after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's working lunch with French President Nicholas Sarkozy said that there was a "strong convergence of interest on the threats posed by terrorism and measures to counter it." Both leaders also expressed their satisfaction over the implementation and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of civil nuclear energy,space and defence.

June 11th, 2009 Constellation appeals Md. decision on EdFBALTIMORE — Power company Constellation Energy has appealed a ruling by Maryland regulators that they have the right to approve its proposed $4.5 billion sale of half its nuclear power business to French nuclear company EdF.

May 26th, 2009 ABU DHABI - French President Nicolas Sarkozy could visit Pakistan later this year to ink a nuclear cooperation deal between the two countries. According to sources, France and Pakistan are negotiating a nuclear partnership and talks in this regard, are at an advanced stage.

April 21st, 2009 BEIJING - Russia and China signed an agreement on oil cooperation in Beijing Tuesday, under which a new branch from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline will be built to China. The agreement sets out terms for oil cooperation between the countries, in particular on the laying of a pipeline from the Skovorodino refinery in Russia's Far East to Mohe county in China's Heilongjiang province.

April 21st, 2009 BEIJING - China has disavowed any kind of cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in nuclear energy development, and urged a peaceful solution to the DPRK nuclear disputes. "China has never had any cooperation with the DPRK in nuclear energy development," the Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Yiren, the head of the China's Atomic Energy Authority, as telling reporters at a nuclear energy conference in Beijing on Monday.

April 18th, 2009 SANYA - China has expressed its willingness to play a 'constructive role' in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear crisis. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his country respects Iran's nuclear programme meant for peaceful purposes and is willing to play a mediator's role in the talks to resolve the standoff.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The landmark India-US civil nuclear deal is on track with both sides determined to go forward with an initiative that has raised their relationship to a new level. 'I was really reassured by the determination to go through it,' Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said at a press conference here Wednesday after three days of an intense dialogue with the new Obama administration.

March 4th, 2009 VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Tuesday approved additional nuclear inspection measures for India, which the country has to ratify before it can receive imports for its growing nuclear energy sector. Diplomats said in Vienna that although the 35-country IAEA governing board had approved the additional measures, they fell short of Additional Protocols that are in place for other countries.

February 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A month after India entered into a nuclear pact with Russia, leading Russian nuclear company TVEL Wednesday signed a deal to supply uranium to Indian nuclear plants. Russia's state-owned nuclear company Atomenergoprom said that its unit, TVEL, and Indian officials had signed the latest deal under which 'the total cost of contracts is more than $700 million'.

February 7th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL expects to sign a $780 million contract for fuel supplies to Indian nuclear power plants, a spokesman for Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosatom has said. The contract, if signed, could make Russia the first country to supply nuclear fuel to India since the Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a three-decade ban on nuclear fuel sales to the country on Sept 6, 2008.

February 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and France are set to start a new chapter in civilian nuclear cooperation when French nuclear giant Areva signs a pact with India's nuclear monopoly NPCIL Wednesday for the import of new generation EPR-type nuclear reactors. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Areva will be inked here in the presence of French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan.

January 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Kazakhstan Saturday signed five agreements, including one on civil nuclear energy. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who arrived Friday night on a four-day visit ahead of the Republic Day parade Monday where he will be the chief guest, signed the agreements with the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of President Pratibha Patil.

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived here Friday night on a four-day visit during which India and the energy-rich Central Asian country are expected to sign a civil nuclear agreement and a slew of economic pacts. The Kazakh president will be India's guest of honour at the Republic Day parade.

January 15th, 2009 MUMBAI - Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has signed an agreement with the US-based Westinghouse Electric to build nuclear power reactors, the company said Friday. In a regulatory statement, L&T said the pact would enable the two companies 'utilise indigenous capabilities for the turnkey construction of nuclear power plants including supply of reactor equipment and systems.' Westinghouse technology is in use in over 40 percent of operating nuclear power plants globally, the statement added.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Kazakhstan are set to invigorate their ties when they sign a nuclear pact and other economic agreements during the four-day visit of the energy-rich Central Asian country's President Nursultan Nazarbayev that begins Jan 23. 'The visit will further consolidate and provide fresh impetus to the bilateral relations,' the external affairs ministry said here Wednesday while announcing his visit.