Brazil follows same nuclear path as Iran [View All]

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-brazil23.html

RESENDE, Brazil -- As Iran faces international pressure over developing the raw material for nuclear weapons, Brazil is quietly preparing to open its own uranium-enrichment center, capable of producing exactly the same fuel.

Brazil, like Iran, has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Brazil's Constitution bans the military use of nuclear energy.

Also like Iran, Brazil has cloaked key aspects of its nuclear technology in secrecy while insisting the program is for peaceful purposes, claims that nuclear weapons experts have debunked.

While Brazil is more cooperative than Iran on international inspections, some worry its new enrichment capability -- which eventually will create more fuel than is needed for its two nuclear plants -- suggests that South America's biggest nation may be rethinking its commitment to nonproliferation.

"Brazil is following a path very similar to Iran, but Iran is getting all the attention," said Marshall Eakin, a Brazil expert at Vanderbilt University. "In effect, Brazil is benefitting from Iran's problems."

Suspicions raised