Algeria and France have entered into talks about sharing nuclear research and technology.

France is being very smart here.

These talks are taking place as part of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s efforts to create a union of Mediterranean countries and Algerian President Adelaziz Bouteflika has indicated interest in taking advantage of French nuclear expertise. It looks like Algerian engineers may be able to receive training from French nuclear power group Areva, the largest nuclear power group in the world.

By co-operating with Algeria over nuclear issues, France is gaining an ally whereas the USA appears determined not to co-operate with other countries over nuclear power, and looks to be trying to keep nuclear power as the West’s secret.

The best example of this is in Iran. Instead of banging heads with Iran, the USA should be offering to help with the building of nuclear plants. By doing this they would gain another friend in the international diplomatic arena and would also be able to monitor the progress of the nuclear program to ensure everything was going smoothly and safely. America spends a fortune on intelligence operations trying to find out how far Iran is with their nuclear program, instead of this the USA could be making money by building plants for Iran and they would also know how far Iran was with their project as they would be the ones building it.

As the world shifts to nuclear power, more and more countries will get nuclear technology, whether the people want them to or not. What should be happening is that countries with extensive knowledge of nuclear power such as France and the USA, should be helping other countries develop nuclear power and by doing this they can ensure that the projects are carried out safely. Of course as the world moves from burning fossil fuels to utilizing nuclear technology, there will be a greater demand for uranium pushing up uranium prices and uranium stocks.