It has its eye on a joint project to design a gas-turbine modular helium reactor with the United States, Japan and France.

ECONOMIST: The time-bombs of Tomsk

The project's reputation never recovered, and the reactor was shut in 1990.

ECONOMIST: Prospects for a new type of nuclear reactor look mixed

But the project has met with technological problems, and the reactor hasn't yet finished necessary safety checks by the government to restart operations.

WSJ: Panel: Active Fault Runs Beneath Japan Reactor

The Sunshine to Petrol project is testing a prototype device called the Counter Rotating Ring Receiver Reactor Recuperator (called CR5 for short) which turns CO2 into carbon monoxide which could then form part of a liquid fuel.

CNN: Turning carbon dioxide into fuel