France-Libya Nuclear Deal

July 25, 2007: French President Nicolas Sarkozy met Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to sign an accord for a military-industrial partnership and for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. International critics of the deal claim that helping Libya achieve nuclear power will bring them one step closer to developing a nuclear bomb.

Fast Facts

1. French President: Nicolas Sarkozy
2. Libyan Leader: Muammar Gaddafi
3. Initial understanding preliminary negotiations began in 2006
4. Libya abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003

Non-proliferation

Although many critics see the nuclear energy deal as a first step to reviving its nuclear weapons program, Libya claims that it is going to use the reactor purchase in the deal, to convert sea water into clean drinking water. The International Atomic Energy Association has reported very good cooperation from Libya since it abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The uranium fuel used by the reactor is classified as low-enriched, which is different from the high-enriched uranium needed to produce nuclear weapons.

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