Japan to step up Nuclear Technology export drive

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to sign a nuclear cooperation deal with the Czech Republic this month, as Tokyo looks to build up its exports of the technology. Abe and Czech President Milos Zeman have all but agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on mutual nuclear technology cooperation when they meet in Poland on June 16, according to a Nikkei business daily report. Nuclear power has been a sensitive issue in Japan since a quake and tsunami wiped out the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in 2011, but Abe has been keen to promote the industry since taking office in December. The memorandum is expected to include a statement that the Czech Republic will use Japanese nuclear technology. It will also make US nuclear plant builder Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japans Toshiba Corp, the top candidate to win a $10 billion contract to build two nuclear reactors in the Central European country, the daily said. Abe is due to meet the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary in Poland while on his way to the June 17-18 Group-of-Eight summit in Northern Ireland, the Nikkei added. The Czech nuclear project entails adding a third and fourth reactor to the Temelin nuclear power station in South Bohemia. Czech national power producer CEZ AS is looking to start operating the new reactors in 2020 or later. In May, Japan and Turkey signed a deal to build a sprawling nuclear power plant on Turkeys Black Sea coast. Japan also signed a nuclear cooperation deal with the United Arab Emirates. Tokyo has also agreed with India to accelerate talks on civil nuclear cooperation. After talks in Tokyo on Friday, Abe and French President Francois Hollande said they would cooperate in developing nuclear power technologies and promoting the sectors exports to emerging economies .