Canada has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Libya for cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The MoU was signed in Tripoli on 29 July by Canada’s ambassador to Libya and the secretary of the Americas Department of the General People’s Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation.

The accord provides for cooperation between Canada and Libya in several fields of the peaceful use of nuclear energy, including research; uranium mining, processing and transport; enhancing radiation technology for the prevention and treatment of diseases; and the development and management of seawater desalination technology.

The MoU also provides for prioritizing nuclear safety, protection of the environment and the economy, and nuclear non-proliferation in accordance with the laws and policies of both countries, as well as their international commitments.

The secretary of the management committee of Libya’s Atomic Energy Institute said that the signing of the MoU represents a progressive step in relations of both countries and opens new opportunities for cooperation in the area of promoting nuclear energy development programmes.

This is the fourth cooperation agreement that Libya has signed since July 2007. It has already signed similar agreements with France, Russia and Ukraine.

In 2003, Libya halted a clandestine program to develop uranium enrichment, and fully opened itself to IAEA inspections. The country’s voluntary measures earned it certain favour among Western powers. It has a Russian 10 MWt research reactor, which has been operating since 1981 and is under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

(OilVoice)