More French Nuclear Sales

It has been a busy month for the nuclear salesmen of France. On January 15th France signed a deal with UAE for cooperation in building civilian nuclear power. On January 25th it was reported France signed a civilian nuclear power agreement with India similar to the one the US signed back in 2006. Then today, it is announced France wants to help Brazil build a nuclear submarine.

Brazil is discussing with France the purchase of a $600 million Scorpene class submarine as part of an intended military alliance, a government official and a media report said on Monday.

Brazil is looking to France not only for submarine technology but to renew part of its jet fighter and helicopter fleet, he said.

"The idea is to discuss a strategic defense alliance with France," Ramos said. "The important part is technology transfer.

"He is not going to sign any deal yet on this trip."

The Scorpene deal would involve payments over 20 years at a rate of 2.4 percent, Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said. It put the price of the submarine at $600 million.

The Brazilian government, which wants to build the submarine in Brazil, is spending more than 1 billion reais ($560 million) to complete a nuclear reactor for it by 2015, the spokesman said.

The Brazil Naval blog notes there are four aspects of defense cooperation under study; submarines, Rafale, Cougar helicopters, and military exercises and cooperation.

The nuclear submarine aspect is clearly the biggest net gain for Brazil, a major boost in naval capability over any regional South American neighbors, and the best defensive weapon for the offshore oil fields recently discovered. It is hard to see any of this as anything other than a good thing for both Brazil and France.