STATEMENT BY HON. R.W. SWARTZ, MINISTER FOR NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT ON SIGNING OF AUSTRALIA-JAPAN ATOMIC

ENERGY AGREEMENT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES4 8/3/72

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has tabled the text of

an agreement for co-operation on the peaceful uses of atomic

energy recently concluded with Japan.

This is a Government-to-Government agreement somewhat

similar to the other Government-to-Government agreements with

the United States and Canada and agreements which our Atomic

Energy Commission has effected with counterpart organisations

in the United Kingdom and France.

As far as Australia is concerned an important feature of

the agreement is that it opens the way to export our uranium to

Japan within our policy that such exports will be used only for

peaqeful purposes, this to be verified by application of an

international safeguards system.

Further, we expect to obtain benefit from the interchange

of technical information which the agreement facilitates.

Nuclear power is very important to Japan, a country which

not only lacks indigenous fossil fuels but is also subject to the

risk of environmental pollution attendant upon a densely populated

and highly industrialised state.

It plans for installation of nuclear pow'er stations

envisage installation of 60,000 MlÂ·/ by 1985, and 220,000 MW by the

year 2000.

Such a programme will require significant quantities of

uranium, about 400,000 tons of U^Og cumulative to the end of the

century.

While a large part of the Japanese requirements for the

near future are already covered by existing contracts with

suppliers in other countries, the prospects are that Australian

producers will be able to obtain a reasonable share of the market

in later years. '

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The.agreement will facilitate their entry into this

important market.

The atomic energy industry in Japan is rapidly moving

towards the export of nuclear power station equipment. Having

started its programme with technology acquired from other countries,

Japan is now starting to produce designs and technical processes

based on its own research and development.

It is expected that it will have much to offer us in

the way of information of use for our own future nuclear power

programme.

The safeguards called for in the agreement will be applied

by the International Atomic Energy Agency and negotiations on the

details, involving tri-lateral agreement between the Agency,

Australia and Japan, are now nearing completion.

As indicated by my colleague, the Honourable Minister for

Foreign Affairs,  the agreement is a framework within which

separate agreements can be made to cover a wide range of atomic

energy projects and activities.

It therefore creates the opportunity to develop with

Japan to our mutual benefit the same close co-operation in the

atomic energy field as already exists in other areas.

