Friday, 17 August, 2007

ABC News Online

The Federal Government is negotiating a deal to sell uranium to Russia, coming in the wake of the confirmation of a deal sealed with India this week, provided strict conditions were met.

The Government will talk about the proposal when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Australia next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Sydney.

This week, Prime Minister John Howard offered assurances that no Australian uranium will be sold to India, unless the Indian Government agrees to a set of strict conditions aimed at preventing that uranium from being used in nuclear weapons.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says Australia should support responsible countries wanting to use uranium to fuel civil power stations.

Mr Downer says there is no danger of the uranium exports being used to support Russia's military programs.

"In the same way as we have nuclear safeguard agreements with other countries, it would be a breach of international law if they were to try to do that," he said.

"I don't think Russia would want to become a rogue state and break international law."

But the move has provoked an outcry from the Greens.

Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown says Russia is already transferring nuclear material and technology to Iran.

"President Putin has mooted nuclear exchange in terms of technology with Iran of all places and Burma - the military junta of Burma," he said in the Senate this morning.

"And John Howard is feeding uranium into that process."

But Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Robert McClelland, says it would be prepared to look at Australian uranium sales to Russia, because unlike India, it has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"We can drive their commitment to do most things and specifically we can drive their commitment to disarmament," he said.

"The broader issues here is how the international community and we, as one of the world's major uranium suppliers, start to reinvigorate the nuclear disarmament debate."

Labor says Russia would need to recommit to the disarmament objectives of the treaty, and there would need to be conditions to prevent the Australian uranium ending up in third countries like Iran.

But Senator Brown has dismissed Labor's stance.

"[Federal Opposition Leader] Kevin Rudd says, 'Thank goodness. Not with India because it hasn't signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but yes, we'll tick off on China, and we'll tick off on Russia'," Senator Brown said.

"The Greens say, we want a safer world than that. We think that there are values other than money for a few uranium miners and that includes the safety, the future safety of this planet."

'Energy superpower'

Dr Robert Ayson, a nuclear strategist and a director of graduate studies at the Australian National University's (ANU) Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, is offering some reassurance.

Speaking on ABC Radio's The World Today, he said he was interpreting the move by Russia mainly as an attempt to satisfy its growing internal energy demands.

"It just depends on which side of the ledger you look at," he said.

"Whether you look at the vast growth in Russia's plans for its civilian nuclear energy, nuclear program, or whether you actually look at some of the broader political aspects and some of the concerns about the sprawling nature of Russia's nuclear infrastructure."

Dr Ayson says the Indian uranium deal might be less concerning than the Russian situation.

"[Russia has] not had a very enviable record of complete control over its facilities in terms of knowing exactly what is where. It inherited a vast legacy from the Cold War that it is still trying to manage," he said.

"By the same token, Russia is genuinely trying to extend its civilian program. It's seeking, even though it has some uranium itself, about 5 per cent of the world's supply, it's seeking additional uranium to support that growth.

"You could actually make the claim that this is a simple commercial extension on Russia's part, and that the bad old days are gone."

He says comments about an Australian deal allowing Russia to free up supplies for a weapons programs are overstated, as the country has been a nuclear weapons state for many decades.

Instead, he says Russia wants to see itself as an "energy superpower".

"In the sense that it might contribute to Russia's claims to be an energy superpower and the way that Russia has ... not been shy at putting pressure on Europe through the possible non-supply of energy, one or two doubts do raise in your mind," Dr Ayson said.

"But I guess you put that alongside the commercial advantages and also the sense that Russia has its own domestic energy needs that it's clearly wanting to meet here."