Brazil Tells Powell It Has Nothing to Hide on Nuclear Progra

By David Gollust

Top Brazilian officials told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Tuesday that country has nothing to hide on its nuclear program, despite a conflict over access by U.N. inspectors¹ to its uranium-enrichment plant. Mr. Powell for his part said he is convinced Brazil's program is entirely² peaceful.

Policy analysts³ have described Brazil's argument with the International Atomic Energy Agency as at the very least inopportune, coming as the international community is trying to pressure Iran to be more forthcoming on its nuclear program.

But after talks between Mr. Powell and top Brazilian officials including President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, both sides forecast an early resolution of the issue that will allow the enrichment plant at Resende to continue fuel production for Brazil's civilian⁴ nuclear program.

Brazil has refused to give IAEA inspectors full access to the plant, citing a need to protect industrial secrets.

At a joint⁵ news conference with Mr. Powell capping the secretary's visit here, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim declared that his government is neither concealing⁶ anything, nor diverting nuclear materials.

He said there have been productive talks on the issue with the IAEA, which is sending a team of experts to Brazil later this month.

"I won't go into the technical details because I have no expertise⁷ to do that," he said. "But it's a simple matter: Brazil has nothing to hide in terms of its uranium enrichment process except for the technology that Brazil has acquired, and which Brazil naturally wishes to protect. It's perfectly⁸ possible, and this has been discussed very productively in Vienna. I myself was on the telephone with the director of the Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. ElBaradei, who was very pleased with the contacts that he had made with our technical people."

Mr. Powell has insisted here that there is no concern within the U.S. government about nuclear activities by Brazil, whose constitution forbids seeking nuclear weapons.

He told reporters there can be no comparison between the nuclear activities of Brazil and those of Iran, whose nuclear program he said is not just for electric power but also designed to "move in the direction of a nuclear weapon."

"I reaffirmed to the president and to the minister that the United States has absolutely no concerns about Brazil doing anything with its nuclear program except developing power in the most controlled, responsible manner," he said. "And of course that is a requirement of the Brazilian constitution. And I'm confident that Brazil will be able to work out any problems that might exist with the IAEA, hopefully when the IAEA, team visits later in the month."

At the news conference, Foreign Minister Amorim expressed appreciation⁹ for Mr. Powell's statements of support for Brazil's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, though acknowledging that the comments fall short of a formal U.S. endorsement¹⁰ of the effort.

The talks here also covered Brazilian efforts to help foster political peace in Venezuela and its new role as head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti.

That force is still well short of the 6,500 troops authorized¹¹ by the U.N. and Mr. Amorim urged countries around the world to make good on pledges of soldiers and material support for the Haitian peace effort, which has been greatly complicated by devastating¹² hurricane-related flooding last month.

Mr. Powell will conclude his foreign trip Wednesday with a stop in Grenada, an island state in the southern Caribbean where most structures were destroyed or damaged, and thousands of people left homeless, a month ago by Hurricane Ivan.
注释：
inspector 检查员
uranium-enrichment 铀浓缩
entirely 完全地
productive 多产的
controlled 受约束的
expertise 专门技术
permanent 永久的
devastating 破坏性的

1 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

7 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

10 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

11 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

12 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。