Friday, 7 September, 2007

by Ean Higgins
The Australian

AUSTRALIA will urge Canada to use the pair's near-duopoly on global uranium production to enforce rules that will determine which countries get access to nuclear material and how it can be used.

Uranium is expected to be a key issue in discussions between John Howard and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who arrived in Sydney yesterday for a six-day visit.

Australia is likely to encourage Canada to join the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a US-led initiative to expand the safe use of nuclear energy.

A key part of the GNEP plan is a controversial proposal from US President George W. Bush that as a price of entry to the group, uranium exporters agree to accept and dispose of the nuclear waste produced by the reactors that use the exports.

The Prime Minister announced on Wednesday that Australia intended to join GNEP, putting some pressure on Canada, which according to Canadian media reports has been dithering on the issue and trying to avoid open discussion about it.

The Canadian Government this week said it would consider whether to take part in GNEP, a group of nuclear powers dedicated to spreading nuclear technology into developing countries.

Trade Minister Warren Truss said yesterday that between them, Australia and Canada accounted for 60 to 70 per cent of the world's uranium production.

"We could reach an agreement (to) take every means to ensure it is used for peaceful purposes," he told The Australian.

"Because we are in such an influential position, we could make sure the uranium is used wisely, under proper supervision."

Canada is the world's largest uranium producer, and with the decision to join GNEP, Australia would be eager to have it within the agreement to make it more enforceable.

But the Canadian Government appears to be uncomfortable with Mr Bush's proposal that exporters take back the waste.

"We're very seriously looking at our options but a final decision has not been made on it yet," Canada's Natural Resources Minister, Gary Lunn, said this week.

He said it was impractical to require producing countries to accept nuclear waste from their customers, particularly those that have adequate storage facilities of their own.

But he would not comment on whether Canada would sign on to GNEP if it were required to accept nuclear waste from other countries.

Mr Harper, who leads Canada's Conservative Party, has an active program in his visit, including considerable one-on-one time with Mr Howard.

He arrived on a Canadian military aircraft with his wife, Laureen, yesterday afternoon and was greeted by Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

He will be the first Canadian Prime Minister, and only the sixth foreign leader, to address the Australian parliament when he visits Canberra next week.

According to Canadian officials, he will meet Australian senators to gather ammunition to apply pressure on his political opponents to agree to transform the Canadian Senate, which consists of political appointees, into a democratic upper house.

"Australia, like Canada, is a large, modern, diverse and organised federation with the Westminster model and if these giants can have an accountable and democratic Senate, I'm not sure why Canada can't," Mr Harper's director of communications, Sandra Buckler, said.