Estonia, US may sign accord on cooperation in oil shale research this summer
21.04.2008
TALLINN, Apr 21, BNS - The United States hopes to sign a cooperation agreement with Estonia in matters related to oil shale already in the summer of this year, Jeff Kupfer, deputy secretary at the US Department of Energy, said after a meeting with Estonia's Minister of Economy and Communications Juhan Parts on Friday.
"High oil prices have raised the interest of countries having oil shale deposits toward the exploitation of these deposits. Estonia's long-time experience in this field makes us a good partner for cooperation in research and business alike," Parts was quoted by spokespeople for the Ministry of Economy and Communications as saying.
Parts said the United States could and should be involved in the work of the Estonian center for oil shale research.
Kupfer promised to support Estonia's aspiration to join the 21 countries that are members of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) at this point.
Kupfer said he was surprised to learn that Estonia was working on a plan to possibly set up a nuclear power plant. In the United States not a sigle N-plant has been built in the past 30 years, he added.
Kupfer sees Estonia's endeavors to ensure energy security as natural. "One has to be realistic about goals," he said, voicing support for Estonia's position as regards carbon dioxide quotas and the future of renewable energy.
Parts also visited on Friday the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the ten different centers of which employ approximately 3,000 researchers. Researchers from NIST have won three Nobel prizes in the last decade alone.
In Parts' meeting with NIST Managing Director James M. Turner and Deputy Director James A. St. Pierre mainly cyber security and data protection were talked about.
Also touched upon was the possibility to involve researchers from Estonia in projects carried out at NIST.
Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8835, sise@bns.ee
 
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