Thursday, 26 July, 2007

Friends of the Earth

In response to reports that foreign minister Alexander Downer is to propose to Cabinet that uranium sales be permitted to India, Friends of the Earth, Australia (FoE) has today called on the government to reject uranium sales to this rogue nuclear weapons state.

FoE national nuclear campaigner Dr. Jim Green said: "Proposed uranium exports to India must be rejected because India is a nuclear weapons state and is one of just three nations which has not ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Uranium sales would undoubtedly weaken the international non-proliferation regime and would increase the risk of other countries pulling out of the NPT and developing arsenals of nuclear WMD — and doing so with the expectation that uranium could still be procured."

Retired diplomat Professor Richard Broinowski noted last year: "The sale of Australian uranium to India would not just weaken our non-proliferation credentials — it would also signal to some of our major uranium customers, such as Japan and South Korea, that we do not take too seriously their own adherence to the NPT. They may as a result walk away from the treaty and develop nuclear weapons — against North Korea, China, or perhaps Russia — without necessarily fearing a cut-off of Australian supplies."

Green said: "India and Pakistan both tested a series of nuclear weapons in 1998. It is unwise and irresponsible to be supplying WMD feedstock in the form of uranium to the subcontinent given the history of regional tension and the active nuclear weapons programs in India and Pakistan. If Australia sells uranium to India, there will be pressure to sell uranium to other nations which refuse to sign and ratify the NPT, such as Pakistan and Israel."

"India has limited domestic reserves of uranium so in addition to the risk of direct use of Australian uranium in Indian nuclear weapons, there is the risk that Australian uranium sales would free up India's limited domestic reserves for the production of nuclear weapons."

FoE also challenged The Australian newspaper to get its facts straight. Green said: "The Australian's foreign editor has today claimed that the US-India deal is 'good for proliferation' though it clearly undermines the NPT and will do nothing to curtail India's weapons program. He claims that the US-India deal puts India's nuclear power industry under IAEA supervision but in fact limited IAEA safeguards already apply and the deal will only marginally increase their scope. Sheridan claims that the global warming considerations of uranium exports to India are 'substantial' but in fact they would be negligible, zero, or negative. And Sheridan's claim that the potential economic returns to Australia could be 'very significant' is ridiculous - even if India does expand its nuclear power sector, the economic returns to Australia would be minimal."