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Australia’s hypocritical and unsafe uranium deal with Russia

“Australia cannot hope to be a leader on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament while spreading nuclear risks by trying to become the world’s largest uranium supplier,”

Activists Blast Russian-Australian Uranium Deal, NTI: Global Security Newswire , Nov. 12, 2010 * Activists have sharply criticized a new Russian-Australian uranium export agreement, partly over concerns that nuclear material sent to Russia under the deal could be diverted for weapons production, the Australian Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 11).

The pact, signed yesterday by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, allows for the resumption of Australian uranium exports to Russia for domestic civilian use. A 1990 deal previously permitted Russia to convert Australian nuclear material into atomic energy fuel for purchase by third parties.

“Australia cannot hope to be a leader on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament while spreading nuclear risks by trying to become the world’s largest uranium supplier,” Australian Conservation Foundation antinuclear advocate David Noonan said.

Russia’s status as one of the world’s largest holders of nuclear warheads should preclude it from being able to purchase Australian uranium, said Tilman Ruff, Australian chairman of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

“We cannot be confident either now or in the future that Australian uranium exported to Russia could not end up in a Russian or a terrorist nuclear weapon,” Ruff said
Bob Brown of Australia’s opposition Green Party castigated the deal today, worrying that Moscow would divert the material to its nuclear weapons program, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Australian lawmakers urged their government two years ago to refuse to export uranium to Russia until Moscow provided concrete assurances that its nonmilitary and military atomic programs were completely separate (Xinhua News Agency/People’s Daily Online, Nov. 12)………..

Australian Conservation Foundation activist Mike Sweeney questioned what he called the “illusion of protection” offered by existing international constraints against any Russian uranium diversion.

“Nuclear weapon states can determine which international inspectors are allowed in which of their facilities at what time, and in Russia there hasn’t been an international inspection since 2002,” he said……..

NTI: Global Security Newswire – Activists Blast Russian-Australian Uranium Deal

November 12, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, politics international, Uranium | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, uranium