All responsible countries have a right to civil nuclear technology. This is the policy of the French government.

"All countries have an equal right to development and to growth. All have an equal right to energy, which is needed to achieve these," asserted French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in his closing address to the International Conference on Access to Civil Nuclear Energy in Paris on Tuesday.

"All countries, provided they respect their obligations to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, have an equal right to civil nuclear [energy]."

"We do not believe in negative growth," he added. "As General [Charles] de Gaulle said, the solutions to tomorrow's problems will not be solved by going back to oil lamps and sailing ships." (De Gaulle was the leader of Free France during the Second World War and the first President of the Fifth French Republic).

Sharing civil nuclear technology among the nations of the world will be necessary if the challenges of the contemporary world are to be met. "We all realise that we won't be able to meet these [development and growth] objectives with only renewable energies," affirmed Fillon.

"Civil nuclear technology is part of the response. It is not a miracle solution, it is not the only solution. In France, nuclear is part of a strategy which comprises three priorities: the strengthening of our nuclear capacity, the development of renewable energy and the encouragement of energy efficiency."

He pointed out that the French model was not the only model, and that France needed to encounter different ways of thinking and to exchange experiences with other countries.

Of course, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is essential. "We would guarantee broad international cooperation with all countries that wish to develop civil nuclear and which take all the measures necessary to prevent the turning of this technology to military ends."

Fillon identified four areas in which international cooperation was "essential". They are safety, funding, training and security of fuel supply. Regarding the last, he highlighted that France supports the creation of a nuclear fuel bank under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"With nuclear and with the international cooperation which will accompany its spread, we will contribute to reducing the inequalities of access to development," he argued. Although a reasonable and prudent approach will be required, and although it will take time, "we are going to reduce the gap between the North and the South".

Keith Campbell is in Paris as the guest of the French government