by Jack Ray » Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:52 pm
FYI
Brazil Puts Nuclear Sub In PlansBy Alan Clendenning, Associated Press
Chicago Tribune
November 17, 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil - This month's discovery of a huge offshore oil reserve justifies Brazil's plan to build a nuclear submarine because it would be used to protect the find, the defense minister said.
"When you have a large natural source of wealth discovered in the Atlantic, it's obvious you need the means to protect it," Nelson Jobim said Thursday at a defense conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Jobim said Brazil must safeguard the Tupi field and its 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil reserves from other nations and from "actions that could come from the area of terror," the government's Agencia Brasil news service reported.
Brazil has been talking about building a nuclear submarine for decades, but the project got a boost in July when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced $540 million in funding for uranium enrichment and the sub program.
Jobim said earlier this month that he wants to come up with an outline within three months to build a nuclear-powered submarine for about $1.2 billion, the Agencia Estado news service reported.
Brazil has no regional enemies and has not experienced terrorist attacks.
The Brazilian navy's nuclear program, begun in 1979, has already mastered part of the uranium enrichment process. But it lags in developing and constructing a submarine reactor entirely from Brazilian technology.
FYI
[b]Brazil Puts Nuclear Sub In Plans[/b]By Alan Clendenning, Associated Press
Chicago Tribune
November 17, 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil - This month's discovery of a huge offshore oil reserve justifies Brazil's plan to build a nuclear submarine because it would be used to protect the find, the defense minister said.
"When you have a large natural source of wealth discovered in the Atlantic, it's obvious you need the means to protect it," Nelson Jobim said Thursday at a defense conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Jobim said Brazil must safeguard the Tupi field and its 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil reserves from other nations and from "actions that could come from the area of terror," the government's Agencia Brasil news service reported.
Brazil has been talking about building a nuclear submarine for decades, but the project got a boost in July when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced $540 million in funding for uranium enrichment and the sub program.
Jobim said earlier this month that he wants to come up with an outline within three months to build a nuclear-powered submarine for about $1.2 billion, the Agencia Estado news service reported.
Brazil has no regional enemies and has not experienced terrorist attacks.
The Brazilian navy's nuclear program, begun in 1979, has already mastered part of the uranium enrichment process. But it lags in developing and constructing a submarine reactor entirely from Brazilian technology.