JOINT STATEMENT ÃÂ²ÃÂ THE MINISTER FOR TRADE, i-iR DAWKINS, AND

THE MINISTER FOR RESOURCES AND uNERGY, SENATOR EVANS -

'  URANIUM SALES TO FRANCE

"There is no truth in claims that Australian uranium has

been sold to France during the past two years,  nor that

Australian uranium is being useu in French nuclear

weapons."

The Minister for Trade, Mr Dawkins and the Minister for

Resources and Energy, Senator Evans, made this clear today

in response to the claims made at the weekend by the

Victorian MLC, Mrs Joan Coxsedge.

The Ministers said the claims had arisen through the

ambiguous nature of figures released last week by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and Decause of an

apparently widespread misunderstanding of Australia's

international nuclear safeguards arrangements, which are

designed to guarantee that Australian origin nuclear

material is used only for peaceful purposes.

"It is ludicrous to suggest that Australia nas 1  secretly1

sold more tnat 20,000 tonnes of uranium to France in 1985

and 1986.

"Tne only contract for the sale of Australian uranium to  France is that between Queensland Mines Ltd and the French

electricity authority, EdF - Ã¢ÂÂ   and no shipments have been

made under this contract since the Government placed an

embargo on the sales in June 1983.

"Mrs Coxsedge has completely misunderstood and

misinterpreted the ABS figures to which she refers.

2

"In the first place, those figures, when broken down, show

only 1,313 tonnes of uranium concentrate - not 20,UUO

tonnes - as having been shipped to France over the last

two years.

"Secondly, and more importantly, such uranium as has

entered France has not been for end-use there, but simply

for 1  toll processing1  , ie conversion, and in some cases

low-level enrichment, for energy customers elsewhere. The

ten snipments of yellowcake that have occurred since the

ban - and it has never been a secret that these took place

- were on behalf of buyers in Japan,  Belgium, Finland and

West Germany.

"Throughout the conversion and enrichment process, each

shipment of Australian material is scrupulously monitored

by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors,

to ensure that no part of it is diverted for military

purposes nor kept for end-use in France.

"An additional assurance is provided by .  the fact that,  in

France,  weapons grade enriched uranium is produced at an

entirely separate plant to that used for enrichment for

peaceful purposes." (see Senator Evans1  detailed answer to

a question from Senator Vallentine in Senate Hansard, 22

'  August 1986). Â·  -

"The balance of Mrs Coxseoge's "2ÃÂ°,ÃÂÃÂU tonnes" appears to

be attributable to the mineral sand,  monazite, or whicn

22,479 tonnes has oeen shipped in the same two year

period. Monazite is exported to France,  and processed

there into various rare earths, on the strict condition

that its radioactive by-product, thorium, is not subject

to any nuclear end-use.  Currently, some of tnis

by-product is used in the manufacture of gas mantles, and

tne rest is stored under Euratom safeguards.

j

"There is equally no substance in the allegations made by

Mrs Coxseoge that Australian uranium has found its way

back .  into French nuclear weapons via Finland and the  Soviet Union. " '  .

When a similar charge was made in the Senate by Senators

Chipp and Sanders 4 months ago,  Senator Evans gave a full

explanation of tne procedures ana safeguards involved in

relation to all Australian uranium sold to Finland: (see

Senate Hansard, 6 May 1986, p.2412).

Mr Dawkins also said,  in regard to discussions held prior

to tne ALP National Conference, that he had been

approached in May by Queensland Mines Ltd and had been

advised it was likely that the company's contract with

France would shortly be cancelled.  y

'  ' '  , /

Mr Dawkins subsequently raised tne matter with the French , v  Â·/

Minister for Trade in Seoul,  in May,  where both were attending an international conference. In that Ã¢ÂÂ  v

discussion, Mr Dawkins emphasised his view that, at that

time, there was no prospect of the Australian Government Ã¢ÂÂ

lifting the ban on sales to France while testing in the ,

Soutn Pacific continued.

.  * * * * *

25 August 1986

88/86

Ã¢ÂÂ¢  Â® ...

