Senator Christine Milne



Thursday, 30 March 2006

Govt reassurances on China uranium deal threadbare: Greens

The Australian government's so-called secure safeguards covering its forthcoming treaty  to sell uranium to China are fatally flawed, Australian Greens energy spokesperson  Senator Christine Milne said today.

"In December 2005, Madam Fu Ying, China's Ambassador to Australia, told a Melbourne  mining club luncheon that China has insufficient uranium for both its civil and military  programmes," Senator Milne said in Canberra today.   "Therefore the Australian government claim that Australian uranium will go to declared  civil facilities only is a sham.   "Whether uranium is used in power stations in lieu of uranium going to nuclear warheads,  the outcome is the same - Australian uranium will support China's nuclear weapons  programme either directly or indirectly.   "Senator Nick Minchin's tabled response to a Greens question in Parliament says that  Australia's uranium will be used only at 'declared facilities' subject to China's safeguards  agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).   "However, 'declared facilities' are only declared at the discretion of China. The Chinese  government can withdraw these facilities from IAEA oversight at any time simply by  stating concerns about national security.   "As if that is not bad enough, the conversion of yellowcake to gas, its enrichment for  weapons grade or civilian reactor grade, and processing into nuclear fuel rods for power  or weapons take place in facilities which are predominately controlled by the military and  are not 'declared facilities'.   "This means that before the uranium gets to the voluntarily declared power stations, it  will have been through conversion, enrichment and processing facilities which may or  may not be voluntarily declared and in which it is impossible to separate or track uranium  atoms going for military or civilian use.   "This shows how threadbare are the Australian government's commitments to preventing  nuclear proliferation.   "The government is so dazzled by the prospect of facilitating the sale of billions of  dollars of uranium to an eager customer that it is prepared to turn a blind eye to a regime  which has wilfully ignored or invalidated its commitments and treaties in the recent past,  ranging from civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights,  environmental responsibility and human health."   Contact - Katrina Willis 02 6277 3063 or 0437 587 562

