/ 25 October 2010

Power to Chávez

Russia has agreed to help Venezuela build its first nuclear power station in a move likely to raise concerns in Washington about the increasingly close cooperation between Moscow and Caracas.

President Dmitry Medvedev announced the move at the end of a two-day visit to Moscow by Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, his ninth to the city so far.

Venezuela’s economy is overwhelmingly reliant on oil and Chávez has said he wants the nuclear power station to diversify energy supply.

The official position in the United States is that it is not opposed to civilian nuclear technology, only to the proliferation of nuclear ­weapons programmes.

Medvedev implicitly acknowledged the deal was not likely to be popular with the US, but defended Venezuela’s right to seek access to peaceful nuclear technology.

The station is likely to be built in the next 10 to 15 years at an undisclosed cost. —