Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in the Handelsblatt newspaper o­n Wednesday that a plant overseen by the UN nuclear watchdog would ensure that "countries do not use uranium enrichment secretly to build nuclear weapons."

"We must find ways in which each country can use nuclear energy in a peaceful and unlimited manner without making access to the bomb possible," Steinmeier said.

Such a facility would also "ensure the security of energy supplies," he added.