Beijing - Nuclear energy can play an important role in the 21st century in helping to achieve global energy security, battle climate change and cut air pollution, a statement issued by an international conference in Beijing said Wednesday.

Energy ministers and officials from 66 nations participated in three-day conference, hosted by China and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which ended Wednesday.

At the sidelines of the conference, China and France agreed to expand their cooperation on nuclear energy, signing a three-year agreement on cooperating on the issues of nuclear waste, nuclear fusion and personnel training, the official Chinese Xinhua news agency said. The two countries started their bilateral cooperation in 1982.

Fluctuating oil prices and growing energy demands have triggered renewed interest in nuclear energy, despite the still existing risks of the technology, the conference concluded. China plans to expand its nuclear capacities to at least 40 million kilowatts by 2020.

This year construction of six new reactors started, to be followed by another five in 2010.

Around 60 countries showed their interest in using nuclear energy, the IAEA said, up from the currently 30 nuclear states.

However, outgoing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei voiced concerns over the safety situation in some countries that operated outdated nuclear facilities, had bad operators or insufficient supervision.

Safety standards had to be globally binding, ElBaradei said, and needed to be more effective in countering the threat of nuclear terrorism. (dpa)