France's prime minister toured a nuclear reprocessing plant in northern Japan on Saturday, hailing the facility as a symbol of friendship between the two countries and vowing to take global leadership in promoting nuclear power as a solution to climate change. Francois Fillon made a day trip to a nuclear reprocessing plant that uses technology from France's state-run nuclear giant Areva. The plant, located in the village of Rokkasho, is in the final phase of testing and is to begin full operations next month. Fillon, escorted by Japan's Trade Minister Akira Amari, toured the plant's control room and high-level nuclear waste facility, a spokesman for plant operator Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. said on condition of anonymity citing protocol. «The plant is an excellent symbol of friendship between France and Japan,» Fillon told reporters after the plant tour, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. «I hope we can continue to cooperate in implementing energy policies.» Fillon and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda held talks Friday and issued a joint declaration saying nuclear energy is key to strengthening international energy security and tackling global warming. They also acknowledged the importance of nuclear nonproliferation, safety and security. Fillon's visit marks the 150th anniversary of Japanese-French diplomatic ties and comes ahead of this year's summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Japan, the Associated Press reported. The summit is expected to focus on global warming. Japan will promote nuclear energy at the G-8 energy ministers' meeting in June «to share understanding among the participating nations about how nuclear energy can contribute to solving the problem of global warming,» Amari told a joint news conference with Fillon. Fillon said Japan and France should become «global leaders in using nuclear energy wisely.»
