17 Aug (NucNet): Australia has been negotiating an agreement to sell uranium to Russia and hopes to sign it during president Vladimir Putin’s visit to the country next month, minister for foreign affairs Alexander Downer has said.
Mr Downer said today that Australia already has an arrangement, negotiated in 1990, where Australian uranium can go to be enriched in Russia and then must be sold on to another country with which Australia has a nuclear safeguards agreement.
“So under this new arrangement we’ve been negotiating with the Russians and hope to sign during President Putin’s visit next month, that would provide for Australian uranium to be used in Russian civil nuclear power stations, not of course their military programme,” Mr Downer said.
The Russia announcement follows prime minister John Howard’s announcement earlier this week that Australia has decided to change its foreign policy to allow the export of uranium to India, subject to a number of conditions being met.
Mr Downer said today one of the reasons for that decision was that Australia would be pleased if some of India’s nuclear power plants came under United Nations supervision.
He said uranium sales to India would “enhance not just our export capabilities but build up our relationship with India”.
He added: “We don’t want to see a massive growth in CO2 emissions coming from high (economic) growth in India, yet we want high growth in India to bring people out of poverty, so nuclear power makes good sense for them.”
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Decision On Uranium Exports To India Is Up To Australia, Says US (News No. 54, 13 March 2006)
Howard Announces Plans To Sell Uranium To India (News No. 194, 16 August 2007)
