EMBARGOED UNTIL  DELIVERY Â·

Ity*.

STATEMENT BY

THE RT. HON. IAN SINCLAIR, M.P.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE '

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY FOR

NUCLEAR POWERED WARSHIPS

8 DECEMBER 1982

The House will be aware that nuclear powered

warships of the United States Navy regularly visit Australian  ports. Since the Government decided in 1-976 to allow such  visits, about fifty port calls have been made by a variety of

United States Navy nuclear powered surface ships and submarines  to Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and the  Northern Territory.

These port visits - like visits made by  conventionally powered United States Navy warships - are valued  by both the Australian and United States Governments and are an  important practical expression of naval cooperation in peacetime  between close allies. This year's ANZUS Council communique

recorded that the Council members:

"confirmed the high priority each partner placed  upon a regular and comprehensive programme of

naval visits to each other's ports, as well as to  friendly ports in the Asia/Pacific region generally.. .   They recognized the importance of access by United

States naval ships to the ports of its Treaty  partners as a critical factor in its efforts to  maintain strategic deterrence and in order to carry  out its responsibilities under the terms of the

Treaty."

In this regard, I would draw to the attention of the  House -the fact that the US Navy now operates about 135

nuclear powered warships,  and that more than 40% of the United  States Navy's major combatant units are nuclear powered.

All the nuclear powered warship visits that have  taken place in the last six years have been arranged in  accordance with the conditions of entry laid down by the  Australian Government in 1976. These conditions of entry were

incorporated in the document titled "Environmental Considerations  of Visits of Nuclear Powered Warships to Australia",  which was  tabled in this place by the Prime Minister on 4 June 1976.

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I now wish to inform the House that the Government  has decided, following a review of the conditions of entry

carried out by Defence in cooperation with other Departments  and the Australian Atomic Energy Commission, that a number of

changes should be made to those conditions. .

Unlike the conditions of entry laid down in 1976,  the new conditions of "entry are intended to apply to warships  having reactors larger than 100 MW as well as to warships with  reactors smaller than 100 MW. This change follows further

assessment of information available on these vessels and the  selection of berths such that any health hazards associated with  the visits will be no greater than those accepted currently for  warships with smaller reactors. The new conditions of entry  will therefore" enable visits to approved berths in Australia  by the NIMITZ class of aircraft carriers,  subject only to

appropriate arrangements being made to remove the vessel to  a remote location in the unlikely event of an accident involving  the nuclear propulsion plant.

The other change of. substance to the general .   conditions of entry concerns emergency towing arrangements.  ' The 1976 conditions of entry stipulated that a tug must be  available for emergency towing duties whenever a nuclear  powered warship visited an Australian port.  US nuclear powered

surface ships, however, have two or more reactors and could move  under their own power even in the unlikely event of damage to one  of those reactors.  Except when visits are made by nuclear  powered submarines,  which have only one reactor, the requirement

to remove a warship to a safe location may therefore be met by  the warship itself rather than by separate towing vessels.

The new conditions of entry will apply to visits by  nuclear powered warships of the United States Navy and - should  visits be requested by it - to nuclear powered warships of the  Royal Navy. They are as follows:

a. visits will be for purposes such as crew rest  and recreation and not for fuel handling or  repair to reactor plant necessitating breach  of reactor containment;

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b. visits will be subject to satisfactory

arrangements concerning liability and indemnity

and to provision of adequate assurances relating

to the operation and safety of the warships while  they are in Australian waters;

c .  movement of vessels must take place during  daylight hours under conditions where visibility

is not less than three quarters of a mile;

d. navigational controls on other shipping will be applied during the time that nuclear powered  ships are entering or leaving ports;

e. there must be a capability to remove the vessel either under its own power or under tow, to a  designated safe anchorage or to a designated  distance to sea, within the time frame specified  for the particular berth or anchorage and in any  case within 24 hours,  if an accident should occur;  and .

f. an operating safety organisation, competent to  carry out a suitable radiation monitoring program  and able to initiate actions and provide services  necessary to safeguard the public in the event of  a release of radioactivity following an accident,   must exist for the port being visited.

I would emphasize to the House that the new  conditions of entry are completely consistent with the very  high standards of safety that have always been applied during  visits by nuclear powered warships. It might be noted that,

among the detailed precautions that are taken,  these warships  may use only those berths which have been individually assessed  and cleared by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission as suitable  for such use. Moreover,  competent Australian personnel monitor

carefully radiation levels in the vicinity of these warships  throughout each visit, and a separate environmental monitoring

program is conducted in cooperation with State authorities in  each of the ports that are visited.

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The results of these monitoring programs are  published annually by the Department of Home Affairs and  Environment. No emissions of radioactivity have been detected  by these programs from any of the nuclear powered warships that  have visited Australia.

Application of the new conditions of entry for  nuclear powered warships will facilitate future visits to  Australia by our US ally's warships and at the same time will  ensure that all the necessary precautions are taken to protect

fully the interests of the Australian public in these visits.

I commend them to the House.

