The French prime minister François Fillon and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda have agreed to expand their countries’ joint initiatives on nuclear safety.

The two men met yesterday for talks and afterwards Fillon’s office said the two countries are planning collaborations on safety risk evaluation and decontamination strategies.

Two French firms – Areva and Veolioa – have been working to process contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear generating station that went into meltdown following an earthquake and tsunami in March.