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LA PAZ, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia and Russian state nuclear energy agency Rosatom signed three agreements on Friday to build a nuclear research center in El Alto, Bolivia.
The Bolivian city, located 9 km southwest of the capital La Paz, will be home to the Center for Research and Development of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes.
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, who presided over the signing of the memorandum of understanding, said that as an exporter of lithium used in nuclear fusion, Bolivia should learn how to make the most of the natural resource.
"We can't have the world using lithium over the next 20, 30 or 50 years, while we Bolivians remain incapable of using lithium for our own benefit," said Garcia.
"We have lived like this for 500 years. For 500 years we have used Bolivia's raw materials so that other countries around the world would develop science, technology and industry, and we don't want to repeat that history. That's why we have made a decision: to plant today so we can harvest in 2025, 2030, 2040," said the vice president.
Bolivia's Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy Luis Sanchez signed the documents, along with Kirill Komarov, Rosatom's first deputy CEO for Corporate Development and International Business.
The agreements cover construction, training of personnel and public-sector use of nuclear technology.
Sanchez said construction of the research center, which will focus on the application of nuclear energy to the fields of medicine, agro-industry and technology, will get underway on July 31.
"And as Rosatom has said, it will be the most important nuclear center in Latin America, the biggest, the most modern and the most efficient," said Sanchez.
Rosatom's Komarov said he was confident the center "we are building jointly is going to provide a significant push to the social, economic and infrastructure development of the city of El Alto."
