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JOINT STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE,

SENATOR GARETH EVANS AND THE MINISTER FOR PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

AND ENERGY, MR JOHN KERIN.

AUSTRALIA/USSR AGREEMENT ON PEACEFUL USES OF NUCLEAR ENERGY

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade,  Senator Gareth

Evans, and the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, Mr

John Kerin, today announced the signature of an agreement

between Australia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

The Agreement was signed in Canberra today by Senator Evans and

the Soviet Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,  Mr Igor

Rogachev, who is visiting Australia with the Soviet Prime

Minister Mr Ryzhkov.

The Agreement makes the Soviet Union a direct party to the

bilateral arrangements Australia already has in place with

those of its safeguards treaty partners who use Soviet

processing services for Australian uranium. These arrangements

are based on an "all in/all out" procedure which satisfies

Australia's stringent safeguards policy. The procedure ensures

that a quantity of nuclear material equivalent to that

transferred for processing is retransferred afterwards to a

country with which Australia has a safeguards agreement.

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As with Australia's other nuclear safeguards agreements,  the

agreement signed today with the Soviet Union includes a

peaceful non-explosive uses undertaking, a requirement for

notification of nuclear transfers between the parties and

notification of transfers to the International Atomic Energy

Agency, a limit of less than 20% on the level of enrichment

permitted and physical protection of nuclear material subject

to the agreement in accordance with internationally agreed

standards.  There is no provision for end use of Australian

uranium in the USSR.

The Agreement also provides for cooperation in the peaceful

uses of nuclear energy. One area of mutual interest in this

regard is nuclear waste management technology, where Australia

is playing a leading role through the development of the Synroc

waste disposal technology.

The Agreement will be tabled in Parliament in due course.

* * * *

CANBERRA

