Russia said Thursday it was likely to win agreement from its G8 partners for its proposals for new legally-binding nuclear safety rules after Japan's Fukushima disaster.

"The likelihood is very high because there is simply no alternative to that," said Nikolai Spassky, deputy head of state nuclear body Rosatom.

Spassky told reporters on the sidelines of the G8 summit that France supported Russia's proposals and Washington had a similar view. However, he acknowledged that other members like Germany and Italy did not share the Russian approach.

Spassky said the necessary work on the nuclear safety rules had started at the summit in Deauville, which would be reflected in a joint statement to be released on Friday.

Russia proposes to favour legally-binding state responsibility over that of a nuclear power operator in case of a nuclear accident, said Spassky.

Nuclear safety is high on the agenda following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima facility, with meltdowns reported in three reactors and high levels of radiation leaked into the environment.

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Russia says Japan nuclear accident no threat to Far East
Moscow (AFP) May 26, 2011 –

The accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant has not posed any radioactive threat to Russia's Far East region, the head of Russia's nuclear agency said on Thursday.

"There is no threat to the Russian Far East and the Kuril islands," the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS news agency.

Kiriyenko presented the results of Russia's geographical society verification mission to the Far East, including Vladivostok, the main city in the region which is some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Fukushima plant.

Russia stepped up radioactive monitoring following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the facility, with meltdowns reported in three reactors and high levels of radiation leaked into the environment.

Like other countries Russia also prohibited the import of food products from several Japanese regions.

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