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Algeria confirms Western intel, announces plans for nuclear program

13 October 2014 22:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Algeria has disclosed plans for its long-secret nuclear project, APA reports quoting local media.

Officials said Algeria was planning to construct its first nuclear energy reactor to reduce dependency on crude oil and natural gas.

The officials said the project was in the early stages of development and a nuclear reactor would become operational by 2029.

“We are now preparing the experimental reactors and investing in the field of human expertise to reach this goal,” Algerian Energy Minister Yusef Yusefi said.

In remarks on Oct. 12, Yusefi did not say when construction of the first reactor would begin. He said the facility was part of a massive development program in the North African state.

“Nuclear energy is a capital energy industry, as with the other resources, devoted to our energy efficiency and our economic development,” Yusefi said.

Algeria has long been suspected by the West of conducting a nuclear program. Over the last decade, Western intelligence agencies have located nuclear experiments at a closed military site.

At an international conference in the Algerian city of Oran, officials also cited Algeria’s program to develop shale resources. They said the United States has offered to help Algeria.

“Algeria has important potentials in non-conventional resources, and their exploitation needs advanced technology, which we can share with Algeria,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Energy Secretary Christopher Smith said.