Tuesday, 14 August, 2007

by Katherine Murphy
Sydney Morning Herald

AUSTRALIA is poised to take the landmark step of selling uranium to India, with the powerful national security committee of cabinet expected to consider the sensitive issue this afternoon.

The committee is due to consider a submission from Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recommending that Australia sell uranium to the subcontinent to provide fuel for India's expanding nuclear power industry.

The expected green light would herald a radical shift in Australia's foreign policy, which prevents uranium sales to countries that have not signed the treaty on nuclear non-proliferation.

Prime Minister John Howard, who heads the committee, has said that he supports uranium sales to Delhi in order to enhance the relationship, despite India's failure to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

A recent nuclear co-operation agreement negotiated between the United States and India will bring some of India's nuclear plants under the international inspection regime for the first time.

The agreement allows the US to export uranium and nuclear technology to India — and other countries are expected to follow suit with their own bilateral agreements.

But reports from the subcontinent in recent days indicate that the India-US agreement is proving controversial, with left-wing parties in India's parliament strongly opposed to the agreement.

Senior figures in Canberra argue that the US deal is a landmark because it brings Indian nuclear plants under international inspections.

But this upbeat view is rejected by some experts on proliferation and by the Federal Opposition, which says it will not support uranium sales to countries outside the treaty.

The Australian resources sector has lobbied Canberra to open up lucrative new markets for yellowcake, including India and China.

Australia has already negotiated a nuclear safeguards agreement with China, and a similar safeguards agreement with India would follow the national security committee's approval for the policy shift.

One Government senator who has previously expressed concerns within the Coalition party room about uranium sales to India said last night that he remained uneasy about the idea.

But Liberal senator Russell Trood told The Age he had been reassured by the level of nuclear safeguards that the US had managed to negotiate with Delhi in its recent co-operation agreement.

"I'm uneasy about it, but it all depends on the agreement (we would reach with India)," Senator Trood said.

He said if Australia reached a similar deal on appropriate safeguards, such as the inspection of plants, then the agreement could be satisfactory.