NUCLEAR POLICY

Speech. E. G. Whit lam. /  September 1973

The following is the text of a speech by the Prime Minister, Mr Gough Whitlam  at the opening of a Nuclear Structure Facility, Australian National University,  Canberra.

I am sure you will appreciate how beguiling the prospect was of opening your new  laboratories at the invitation of Sir Ernest Titterton. I am not, I suppose, renowned for  my support for nuclear experiments. Let me say immediately, therefore, that the work  of the Research School of Physical Sciences is one form of nuclear testing that my  Government encourages wholeheartedly. It was a Labor Governemnt, in 1947, that  established this school and permitted it to conduct research in nuclear physics. Your  work here has been of profound importance. Your new installation, the first of its kind

in the world, is undoubtedly a major advance in nuclear research technology: Sir Ernest Titterton took the no doubt sound precaution, when he invited me here,  of suggesting that I might not wish to speak at length about nuclear physics as a disÂ­ cipline. Yet I suggest that it is precisely as a discipline, as an exercise in the pursuit of-

pure knowlege, that nuclear physics has made its most significant contribution to human  understanding. There is room for dispute, passionate dispute, about the practical value  of nuclear physics and the technological uses to which it has been put, notoriously, of  course, in the manufacture of weapons and even, more recently, in its value as a source

of power. But there can never be any dispute about the theoretical importance of what  you are doing. Modern nuclear physics is the frontier of an inquiry into the fundamental  constituents of matter that began with the ancient Greeks. Like cosmology, to which,  in a real sense, it is related, it deals in ultimates. As such, its importance is  transcendental. I might add. However, that for Governments who have to pay for it, it  is a matter of some regret that the smaller the particles you examine, the bigger and more  costly is the apparatus required.

These somewhat philosophical observations apart, I think we have to admit that your  field of research is a uniquely controversial one. This is inevitable; it may always be so.  The products of nuclear technology, the enormous publicÂ· interest that surrounds it, its  great cost, the high political character of many of the decisions that affect its future,  the current attention paid to the environment and pollution, all these considerations  ensure that your vzork will remain the subject of intense public debate and disputation.  jzThe progress of world nuclear research has been likened to a comet going around the  * sun. It grew more and more heated as it approached the fires of public and political

controversy, but is now moving into calmer and cooler regions. In such regions, I suggest.  Governments and universities are best able to apply the results of nuclear research to  peaceful purposes. t

I need hardly stress that the Australian Government wholeheartedly supports all  efforts to direct atomic research into peaceful uses. This is more than a pious expression  of goodwill. Regent developments in global politics have obscured the threat to human  i survival that nuclear weapons still pose. A little over a decade ago, the supreme

preoccupation of statesmen throughout the world was with the possibility of a nuclear  holocaust, whether deliberately or accidentally triggered. The partial test ban treaty, the  detente between the Soviet Union and the United States, have certainly diminished that  threat. They have by no means removed it.

One of the first decisions my Government made, and which I announced within a  week of my swearing-in as Prime Minister, was that Australia would ratify the Nuclear  Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Seabed Arms Control Treaty. On 23 January the  instruments of ratification were deposited in London. Washington and Moscow. We were  determined, as we are still determined, to give strong and unequivocal support to efforts  to check the spread of nuclear weapons, and to the principles of arms control contained  in the two treaties. Australia is also, of course, a party to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban  Treaty. We are opposed to all forms of nuclear weapons .testing by whatever nation in  whatever environment, and our objective is the suspension of all such testing. There  should be no doubt about the strength of our resolve on this issue.

The importance of the non-proliferation treaty, however, does not lie simply in its  restraint on the spread of weapons. It also provides a positive stimulus to nuclear research  for peaceful purposes and enforces safeguards for the use of nuclear materials. Australian  officials are at present negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency for a  safeguards agreement to operate under the treaty. In addition, Australia has bi-lateral  agreements with the United States, Canada and Japan for the exchange of nuclear  information. .

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At the National Conference of the Australian Labor'Party in July, a resolution was  adopted calling on the Australian Government “ to stimulate the growth of nuclear  technology”. Projects as yours will contribute significantly to this growth. I would,  however, be less than frank if I left the impression that the Government is committed  to nuclear research as a means of developing important new sources of energy. In a world  whose energy reserves are diminishing, and are ultimately finite, it is clear that new  sources of energy will one day be needed. It would be rash to anticipate where this energy  will come from, or how it will be generated. It is, however, proper that we face the fact  that nuclear energy no longer appears as attractive a source of power as it once did. As  you know, our predecessors twice put off a decision on the construction of a nuclear power  station at Jervis Bay. I can see little prospect of this project being revived in the foreÂ­ seeable future.

Because of our importance as a producer of uranium, Australia has a special

obligation to see that our uranium is used for peaceful purposes, whether as an energy  source, or in other ways. Exports are likely to be the mainstay of the Australian uranium  industry. Even on the most optimistic assessment of the prospects of nuclear power

generation in Australia, Australian domestic demand is unlikely to exceed 2000 or 3000  short tons of uranium oxide before 1990. In consequence, the major industrial countries  are already seeking to purchase Australian uranium in unenriched form with contracts  for delivery commencing five and six years in the future.

The Department of Minerals and Energy is currently investigating the prospects for  uranium enrichment in Australia. This process offers by far the best return to the  Australian uranium industry. Enriched uranium is worth four times the value of the raw  material. Until recently, the enrichment process was a monopoly of the United States  and France. Now it is expected that a new technology of enrichment, by means of a gas  centrifuge, will enable Australia and other nations to enrich uranium themselves. For  this reason, Australia has joined the so-called Association for Centrifuge Enrichment,

in order to avail herself of the more modern and cheaper technology. I see great opÂ­ portunities for us in developing this technology, augmenting our mineral earnings and  contributing to world-wide nuclear research. But I assure you that in accordance with  our policy on mineral exports and development, any enrichment plant in Australia will  be Australian-owned, and its products will be made available for peaceful purposes only  to countries which have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The practical benefits of nuclear research have been rich and varied. None of us can  doubt that further uses, further applications, will be discovered. Fundamental research  siich as yours is basic to this process of discovery. As a member of a world family of  nuclear nations, Australia will play a responsible and growing part in these efforts. I

believe your work makes an invaluable contribution to human knowledge, and  ultimately, we must hope, will bring us nearer to a more civilised and peaceful world.

