Australia is confident it can strike a deal with Beijing to export Australian uranium to China for peaceful purposes, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday.
Talks are underway to secure a Chinese commitment that the uranium would be used only for electricity generation, Downer said. Australia prohibits the sale of uranium for nuclear weapons, nuclear-powered warships or other military uses.
Australia also insists that uranium customers abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and prevent radioactive products from being passed to a third country.
"China understands very clearly what our policy is on uranium exports and -- well, we cannot be sure yet -- but I have some quiet confidence that we might be able to negotiate a satisfactory safeguards agreement which would be consistent with our broad policy and with the other agreements we have," Downer told Parliament.
"As long as the safeguards agreement can be concluded, we wouldn't see any further obstacle to exporting uranium to China," he added.
Sales to China could substantially increase Australia's income from uranium, which was US$285 million last year.
Australian mining company WMC Resources Ltd. is pushing for more exports from its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine, which holds almost 40 percent of the world's uranium reserves.
Uranium mining is a contentious issue in Australia, where the development of such mines and their exports has long been restricted.
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