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JERUSALEM (AFP) - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Sunday he will sign a cooperation agreement with Israel's Atomic Energy Commission during his three-day visit here.
"The purpose of my visit is to enhance energy cooperation between the United States and Israel, and I am going to be signing some agreements in scientific exchange, energy technology and in the area of energy cooperation," Richardson told reporters at a meeting with Israeli President Ezer Weizman.
Asked if his visit would cover nuclear energy, Richardson said he would be meeting with Gideon Frank, the head of the atomic energy commission, and signing a memorandum of understanding. "But our cooperation primarily is in solar and renewable energy," he added, without giving further details.
The atomic commission advises the Israeli government on matters concerning the advancement of nuclear research and development, and the setting of nuclear policy and priorities.
Israel currently has two nuclear facilities, a 30-year-old reactor at Dimona in the Negev desert built with French aid and capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium and a smaller research reactor at Nahal Sorek south of Tel Aviv.
Israel is not a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and refuses to submit its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Richardson held talks with Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Monday before meeting with Foreign Minister David Levy, Infrastructure Minister Eli Suissa and Frank yesterday. He also met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yesterday in the West Bank town of Ramallah
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