Friday, 20 July, 2007

International Herald Tribune

CANBERRA, Australia: The Australian government said Friday it would hold talks with Washington about bolstering cooperation on nuclear energy, but insisted Australia would not become an international dumping ground for atomic waste.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the U.S. Department of Energy had approached Canberra about updating a 25-year-old nuclear power cooperation agreement, and the government believed it was a good idea.

Australia has the world's largest untapped reserves of uranium, but mining the ore is restricted by laws that also ban nuclear power stations.

Prime Minister John Howard wants to repeal the laws and for Australia to consider nuclear power as an alternative to greenhouse gas-producing coal sources.

Downer said negotiations with Washington could lead toward Australia joining the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a U.S. initiative to develop a nuclear power network.

"There's a real possibility we could build a relationship with the Americans under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership," Downer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "In general terms, absolutely we are in favor of working with the Americans."

The Department of Energy says the partnership aims to develop a worldwide "closed cycle" of suppliers and users of nuclear energy among trusted nations that promised to use atomic knowledge for peaceful purposes only.

Greenpeace Australia chief executive Steve Shallhorn condemned the plan as a "buddies club" of nuclear countries, and said it would inevitably lead to Australia becoming a storage site for radioactive waste.

Howard rejected the idea, saying, "We've made that clear, we're not taking other people's waste."

Downer ridiculed Shallhorn's fear as "one of the more wacky theories I've heard."

Under the existing agreement, Australia and the United States share information, components and expertise in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Downer said the areas of research and development, in particular, could be updated.

Fairfax newspapers reported from Washington on Friday that a deal from the talks may be announced when U.S. President George W. Bush visits Sydney for the annual summit of Asia-Pacific leaders on Sept. 8-9.

Some experts say the vast Outback of Australia, whose 21 million people live mostly on the coastal fringes, could be an ideal place to safely store radioactive byproducts of nuclear energy.