Iran seeks 'authentic' US talks

3 February 2013 Last updated at 12:51 GMT The Natanz facility is at the heart of Iran's latest dispute with Western nations Iran says it welcomes a US offer of bilateral nuclear talks, but wants the US to show an "authentic... fair and real intention to resolve the issue".

Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi said the US should stop threats to take action against Iran as it offers talks.

He was speaking at a security conference in Germany a day after Vice-President Joe Biden told the gathering Iran had to be "serious" on the issue.

International talks on Iran's nuclear programme are due later this month.

Iran is under an array of UN-imposed sanctions. Western countries suspect it wants to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its nuclear programme is for energy generation and research.

Three days ago, the US warned Iran that its plans to upgrade uranium enrichment centrifuges at the Natanz plant would be a "further escalation" of the stand-off.

No exercise Continue reading the main story Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent, Munich

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi seemed positive about a new round of nuclear diplomacy but his remarks gave little hint as to whether this would prove any more successful than previous talks in reaching a deal between Tehran and the international community.

Mr Salehi was conciliatory but also tough. Iran, he said, was an important regional player. It was no longer a lackey of any superpower. But he was positive on the new round of talks and positive too on overtures from the US administration.

Nonetheless Mr Salehi fiercely defended Iran's right to develop its nuclear programme.

Mr Biden told the Munich Security Conference that Washington was prepared to hold bilateral talks with Iran "when the Iranian leadership, Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei], is serious".

"That offer stands, but it must be real and tangible and there has to be an agenda that they are prepared to speak to. We are not just prepared to do it for the exercise."

Responding on Sunday, Mr Salehi said Iran had no "red lines" - that it had negotiated with the US bilaterally in Baghdad "a number of times".

"But we have to make sure ... that the other side comes with authentic intentions with a fair and real intention to resolve the issue," he said.

The minister said Iran would take the offer into "serious consideration", but the US had to desist from the "threatening rhetoric that everything is on the table".

Mr Salehi also described as "good news" that international talks on Iran were to be held in Kazakhstan on 25 February. He did not confirm if Iran would attend.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have held a series of negotiations over the years - but there has been no breakthrough.

View the original article here

Christie seeks $37bn in storm aid

28 November 2012 Last updated at 23:01 GMT Christie won plaudits for his handling of the storm's aftermath New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has requested $37bn (£23bn) from the US federal government to help the state recover from "Superstorm" Sandy.

The funds would cover mitigation and prevention efforts as well as repairs.

On Monday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked for $42bn, saying his state could not foot the bill alone.

The north-eastern states were devastated by the 30 October storm, which killed more than 100 and caused $62bn in damage.

"My commitment to the people of New Jersey is to make steady progress in our recovery, and to know that three or six or 12 months from now I'll demand the same level of effort, attention and results from government as I have in the past 30 days," Gov Christie said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Last week, the Republican governor announced he had requested $29.4bn for repairs.

On Wednesday he added to that $7.4bn for the mitigation and prevention of future flooding and destruction.

The request is larger than the state's annual budget of $32bn.

Gov Christie says more than 30,000 properties were destroyed or badly damaged in last month's storm, while 230,000 New Jerseyans have registered for emergency aid from the government.

In New York, Gov Cuomo said taxpayers could not afford to pay for the recovery and prevention on its own.

"It would incapacitate the state," he said on Monday. "Tax increases are always a last, last, last resort."

Gov Christie said this week he would run for re-election in November. He said he was motivated by a desire to help the state through the recovery process.

His response to the storm, including his embrace of Democratic President Barack Obama and federal recovery efforts, won widespread praise.

View the original article here

Tepco seeks more government support as Fukushima costs soar

By Osamu Tsukimori

TOKYO | Wed Nov 7, 2012 4:17am EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Fukushima nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) said on Wednesday it would have to seek more government funds to tackle the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, as cleanup costs soar four months after the utility was nationalized.

A senior minister said the government saw no alternative to providing continued support for the utility, known as Tepco.

Tepco officials suggested the costs of compensation and decontamination could double to 10 trillion yen ($124.55 billion), making greater government support vital.

"If the costs ballooned to 10 trillion yen, double our estimate of a few months ago, we could not shoulder such a financial burden," the company said in a statement.

An earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 triggered meltdowns and radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 150 miles northeast of Tokyo, causing widespread contamination and prompting mass evacuations.

Tepco, which provides power to about 45 million residents of the Tokyo region, has been drawing on a 5 trillion yen fund to pay costs. It also received a 1 trillion yen capital injection in July to avert bankruptcy.

"It is unavoidable that we will have to revise the current financial support framework," Tepco Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe told a news conference.

Under Tepco's business turnaround plan announced in May, Japan's largest utility by revenue must eventually pay back funds received from the government.

Minister for National Policy Seiji Maehara, addressing a separate briefing, said: "For the foreseeable future Tepco will remain under the control of the government and we will have to support the company."

DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE COSTS

Masashi Goto, a retired power plant designer and university lecturer, said technological and other uncertainties made it hard to estimate final costs of clean-up and decommissioning.

"It also appears that Tepco underestimated the cost involved at first, probably because it would be criticized by the public by admitting to the immense scale of the catastrophe," he said.

He said costs were likely to increase as decommissioning work, likely to take decades, progresses.

Tepco has said it will have to resort to major rate hikes again if the government fails to provide additional support. It also said on Wednesday it would set up a coordinating centre in Fukushima, with 4,000 staff, to oversee clean-up operations.

Tepco acknowledged for the first time last month, in a document outlining company reforms, that it had failed to anticipate and tackle the March 2011 disaster.

It said it had feared that implementing accident measures would alarm the public and boost Japan's anti-nuclear movement.

The company is banking on restarting its undamaged Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, the world's largest, to help it return to profit in the business year starting in April 2013.

But prospects appear dim for restarting its seven reactors gradually from April 2013 as safety standards for restarts, to be drawn up by Japan's new nuclear watchdog, will probably not be issued until next year.

All but two of Japan's 50 reactors have been halted for maintenance and safety checks to see if they could withstand an earthquake and tsunami similar to last year's disaster, the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

($1 = 80.2900 Japanese yen)

(With additional reporting by Mari Saito; Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Ronald Popeski)

View the original article here