Wednesday, 23 May, 2007

by Katherine Murphy
The Age

AUSTRALIA will not sell uranium to India until it signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane has said.

In a statement hosing down recent hints from Prime Minister John Howard that Australia could shift its policy and allow yellowcake to be exported to India, Mr Macfarlane told The Age that Australia should not sell.

"The answer is no," Mr Macfarlane said. "The Australian uranium industry can prosper without India, that's my answer.

"We have a prohibition on the basis they have not signed the NPT."

As recently as March, Mr Howard appeared to leave open the prospect of Australian uranium sales to India. Speaking during a visit by India's nuclear envoy Shyam Saran, the Prime Minister said: "We see India as a very responsible country. The relationship between Australia and India is growing. It's a very important relationship. They will be considerations that we will bear in mind."

In a wide-ranging interview about steps the Government is taking towards a framework for nuclear power in Australia, Mr Macfarlane said:

* Companies, which he declined to name, have already approached him to discuss commercial opportunities to enrich uranium in Australia.

* Canberra will press ahead with legislative changes allowing the nuclear industry to proceed, but Mr Macfarlane has not yet considered whether the Government would override state bans on the industry.

* He would like to see a public education campaign about the benefits of nuclear power begin later this year.

* The Government would not consider nuclear fuel leasing — where Australia would take back high-level radioactive waste — until the case had been established for nuclear power.

Mr Macfarlane warned that Australia could not go down the nuclear route unless there was clear bipartisan support and the public accepted nuclear energy.

He described as "optimistic" any commercial plans to construct a high-level waste dump in remote Australia, an idea floated by prominent Melbourne businessman Hugh Morgan.

Mr Morgan has set up a nuclear company, ANE Limited, with two long-time associates, Fairfax chairman Ron Walker and resources executive Robert Champion de Crespigny.

The minister said Australia would not need anything more than the low to medium-level waste facility planned for construction in the Northern Territory for at least 30 or 40 years.

Asked about the contradiction with Mr Howard's comments, Mr Macfarlane said he was simply stating the Government's policy. "There has certainly been no discussion with me, and I'm the guy who signs the export permits, about the potential to supply India," he said.

The United States has decided to deal with India on nuclear power despite the fact it has not signed the NPT.