Reply #3: Santos and Pinera on the nuclear issue

[rabs]

Primero; camila flor, bienvenida al foro. Esperamos contribuciones desde tenochtitlan. :hi:

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Al Gore was in Bogota today at an environment conference. JuanMa said at the conference that he "applauded" the nuclear-program freeze announced the day before by Hugo Chavez.

Santos also said he would back a tax on CO2 emissions (suspect he said this to try to impress Al Gore).

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Meantime, down in Santiago, Pinera is full-steam ahead. Maybe Pinera has forgotten the 8.8 of just over a year ago.

* Chile to sign nuclear cooperation agreement with U.S.

* Chile needs to double energy supply in 10 years: Pinera

SANTIAGO, March 16 (Reuters) - Chile should not be afraid of nuclear energy and will sign a cooperation pact with the United States this week despite the fallout from Japan's crisis, President Sebastian Pinera said on Wednesday.

Chile's Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno is set to sign the nuclear cooperation pact with the U.S. embassy in Santiago on Friday, three days ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama during a Latin American tour.

"Chile needs to learn about nuclear energy," Pinera said after a meeting with the Japanese ambassador in Santiago. "We can't be afraid to learn ... about all sources of energy."

Pinera said Chile needs to double its energy supply in 10 years to cope with rising demand, stressing nuclear energy was one of many options to help boost power output in a land grappling with cyclical energy squeezes.

However, the government stresses that no decision on whether to adopt nuclear power will be made during Pinera's presidency, which ends in 2014, and that it is simply fact-finding.

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1630056720110316



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