The United States Government has no current plans for negotiations with Israel on the economic feasibility of cooperation on a nuclear power-desalting plant for Israel and it is therefore premature to discuss conditions under which American assistance might be rendered, State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey said today.
Authorities in the field of atomic energy said that the delay of the United States in entering negotiations on financing arose from political considerations, linked with the desire of this country to ascertain that non-proliferation assurances will be forthcoming.
Official State Department sources said, meanwhile, that United States negotiations with Israel on nuclear desalination — when and if commenced — would be guided by President Johnson’s statement of January 27 that the United States must continue to secure application of international atomic energy safeguards over peaceful nuclear activities and urge agreement that all transfers of nuclear materials or equipment for peaceful purposes to countries which do not have nuclear weapons be under the International Atomic Energy Agency or equivalent international safeguards.
The State Department announced today that the final report of the U.S. Israel Joint Board’s engineering feasibility and economic study has been received. The report was completed some time ago. It was performed by Kaiser Engineers of Oakland, Calif., in association with the Catalytic Construction Co., of Philadelphia. The study was sponsored by the Governments of Israel and the United States, the latter represented by the Atomic Energy Commission and the office of saline water of the Department of the Interior.
The joint board recommended that the final report be accepted, and submitted the study to the two governments. Details of the report were previously published. Mr. McCloskey said today that the report is yet to be analysed by the United States Government and that no plans have been made for negotiations on nuclear economic feasibility.
The technical study envisaged as feasible a nuclear-powered plant of 200 megawatts of electricity and 100 million gallons of water per day, to be operational by 1972. An assumption was made of early initiation of design. The study, using 1965 prices, estimated the plant’s capital costs at about $200, 000, 000. Assuming a power credit of 5, 3 mils per KWH, the resulting water costs would range from 29 cents to 67 cents per thousand gallons for fixed charge rates of 5 percent and 10 percent respectively.
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