India can't dump radioactive waste in Sri Lanka: senior Lankan minister

Colombo: The Indo-Lanka civil nuclear agreement would not permit India to dump its radioactive waste in Sri Lankan territory, a senior minister has said.

"Management of radioactive waste does not authorise India to unload radioactive waste produced in Indian Nuclear Power Plants in Sri Lankan territory," Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka said.

The Minister was commenting on the bilateral agreement signed on February 16 in New Delhi on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

He said the agreement focussed on peaceful uses of nuclear energy in line with multilateral conventions entered by both India and Sri Lanka.

The agreement will facilitate cooperation in the transfer and exchange of knowledge, expertise, sharing of resources, capacity-building and training of personnel in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Mr Ranawaka said Sri Lanka hopes to sign an Memorendum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan on the development of nuclear applications. A similar MoU had been already signed with a Russian state-owned atomic energy entity.