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Brazil and Argentina are intent on addressing the creation of a binational nuclear energy agency when presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from Argentina and Brazil respectively, meet next month in Recife, the capital of the Brazilian northeastern state of Pernambuco.

In the latest twist to the growing nuclear debate in Latin America, Uruguay accused Argentina of neglecting due process of consultation before going ahead with plans to build a new nuclear power station. The first hints of a developing row over Argentina's nuclear plans came nearly a month after Brazil unveiled plans to expand its uranium processing operations, possibly with sights set on export potential, and Venezuela's pledge to explore nuclear energy. Uruguay's open criticism of Argentina, conveyed indirectly through the media, came within a week of near resolution of a 5-year dispute between the two countries on an eucalyptus pulp mill near the shared Uruguay river."

Takashi Tanemori was 8 years old when an atomic bomb destroyed his home city of Hiroshima. "I had a 14-month-old baby sister, and I had promised my daddy that I would love and protect her with all my heart and all my soul," Tanemori told Marin Academy students Wednesday as part of the school's participation in the World March for Peace and Non-Violence. "My dad said, 'I'm counting on you,'" Tanemori recalled. "That day, my mother, my dad and my baby sister were buried under the ashes." Tanemori and other participants in the march walked from the San Rafael private school to the center of the city as part of a global effort to eliminate nuclear weapons. The event began on Oct. 2 - Mohandas Ghandi's birthday - in Wellington, New Zealand and will conclude on Jan. 2, 2010 in Punta de Vacas, Argentina. Marchers intend to touch down in 90 countries across six continents and are holding forums and events such as Wednesday's talk and demonstration in San Rafael.

Takashi Tanemori was 8 years old when an atomic bomb destroyed his home city of Hiroshima. "I had a 14-month-old baby sister, and I had promised my daddy that I would love and protect her with all my heart and all my soul," Tanemori told Marin Academy students Wednesday as part of the school's participation in the World March for Peace and Non-Violence. "My dad said, 'I'm counting on you,'" Tanemori recalled. "That day, my mother, my dad and my baby sister were buried under the ashes." Tanemori and other participants in the march walked from the San Rafael private school to the center of the city as part of a global effort to eliminate nuclear weapons. The event began on Oct. 2 - Mohandas Ghandi's birthday - in Wellington, New Zealand and will conclude on Jan. 2, 2010 in Punta de Vacas, Argentina. Marchers intend to touch down in 90 countries across six continents and are holding forums and events such as Wednesday's talk and demonstration in San Rafael.

U.S.-based Bechtel Power Corp is leading a shortlist of firms and consortia bidding to design Egypt's first nuclear power station, an official at the ministry of electricity said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the other firms on the shortlist included Australia's WorleyParsons, Sweden's AF Consult, a consortium of Spain's Iberdrola and Empresarios Agrupados, a consortium of Finland's Poyry and Invap of Argentina, a consortium including Belgian Tractebel, and a group of U.S. companies with Egypt's Excel.

Germany has returned over 20 pounds of highly enriched uranium fuel to the U.S. for safeguarding from terrorists or potential misuse, the government said Tuesday. The National Nuclear Security Administration said the spent fuel shipment was transported by ship and rail under secret and secure conditions. Spokeswoman Casey Ruberg said the material was secured at the federal Savannah River site near Aiken, S.C., on Sept. 23. Overall, nearly 115 pounds of spent fuel, originally provided by the United States for use in research reactors, has been returned to the United States from Argentina, Portugal, Romania and Germany during the past year, the agency said.

Efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to keep countries from acquiring nuclear technology by offering them alternatives got a boost this week as three plans for nuclear fuel banks and multinational fuel factories were tabled. The latest proposal was put forward by Germany on Friday. The text foresees the creation of an internationally-governed nuclear fuel production plant. Two additional, complementary, proposals for Russian and IAEA fuel banks to provide supply of last resort are also to be considered by the 35 countries on the IAEA's governing board in June. The ideas were proposed by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in 2003 to keep countries such as Iran from acquiring uranium enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which can be used not only for energy purposes, but also for making nuclear bomb material. But diplomats say the Vienna-based nuclear agency is split on the issue between those countries that already hold the technology, and sceptical countries such as Egypt, Argentina and Brazil, many of them developing economies.

Daniel B. Poneman, who has extensive background in federal service including a stint at the National Security Council, is to be nominated as deputy secretary of the Department of Energy, the White House announced today. Here's the background released by the Dept. of Energy: Since 2001, Daniel B. Poneman has been a Principal of The Scowcroft Group, an international business advisory firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he was a partner in the law firm of Hogan & Hartson. From 1993 through 1996, Poneman served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the National Security Council. He joined the NSC staff in 1990 as Director of Defense Policy and Arms Control, after serving as a White House Fellow in the Department of Energy. Poneman has served on several federal commissions and advisory panels, and has authored books on nuclear energy policy and on Argentina. He coauthored Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, which received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. Poneman received A.B. and J.D. degrees with honors from Harvard, and an M.Litt. in politics from Oxford University. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group