MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - An international agreement on the construction of an experimental nuclear fusion reactor could be signed in August or September 2006, a Russian senior researcher said Wednesday.

"We expect the seven partners in the project - Russia, China, the United States, South Korea, India, Japan and the European Union - to sign the agreement in August-September of 2006," said Yevgeny Velikhov, head of Russia's Kurchatov Nuclear Research Center and a member of the Academy of Sciences.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which scientists hope will produce clean and safe energy and help phase out fossil fuels, is being built in southern France.

Velikhov also suggested that the idea to develop nuclear energy would receive international support at the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in summer in St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, the club's chair in 2006.

Russia's energy strategy until 2020 lists nuclear power as one of the main guarantors of the country's energy security since plants are expected to increasingly replace stations burning fossil fuels.