Rio, June 2, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Minister of Science and Technology, Eduardo Campos, said yesterday (1) in Rio that the federal government should decide by the end of this year whether or not to build the Angra III nuclear energy plant on the southern coast of the state, where Angra I and II are already located.

Campos explained that the decision should emerge before November, when studies ordered by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and carried out by a commission appointed specifically for this purpose, will be concluded.

According to the Minister, the continuation of Brazil's Nuclear Program, which in its initial form envisioned a total of seven nuclear energy plants, some of them in the Northeast region of the country, also depends upon the decision over the construction of the Angra plant.

"This issue of continuing the nuclear program is being studied by the federal government, which ordered studies for this purpose. This decision is linked to the need for alternative energy sources, especially now with this matter of the rekindling of the petroleum crisis."

Reporter: Nielmar de Oliveira
Translator: David Silberstein