Japan’s nuclear crisis threatens to derail a political push by Australia’s government to overturn a ban on selling uranium to India, as well as a drive to use nuclear power domestically to counter climate change.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s minority Labor government is planning a debate at a rare policymaking conference later this year on nuclear energy and relaxing a long-standing ban on uranium exports to New Delhi.
Australian Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said this month that he would press to modify prohibitions on uranium exports to countries which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that would allow sales of the nuclear fuel to India.
However, Gillard, who relies on the Greens, who are opposed to nuclear energy, to remain in power, said yesterday the events in Japan would trigger a global debate on nuclear energy.
Gillard added she did not personally believe Australia needed nuclear power plants.
“I don’t see nuclear energy as part of our future,” she said in Melbourne. “We are blessed with abundant sources of renewable energy, of clean energy, of solar, wind, tide, hot rocks. That’s our future, not nuclear, a clean energy future with carbon pricing as part of it.”
With support now wobbling for the government and a new Essential Media poll this week showing 53 percent of Australians opposed to nuclear power at home, analysts said the debate could prove toxic for Gillard’s fragile grip on government.
“It may well prove unrealistic and unreasonable to now expect Julia Gillard’s minority government to expend substantial political capital on any issue which contains the words ‘nuclear’ or ‘uranium,’” analyst Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute for International Policy said.
New Delhi has long complained about Australia’s uranium policy as it seeks access to nuclear supplies for its booming electricity sector and growing economy. Australia expects India to build five new nuclear reactors by 2016.
At the same time, some prominent lawmakers and business leaders are calling for a domestic nuclear power industry to help curb Australia’s greenhouse emissions, which per capita are the world’s highest because of the country’s reliance on coal-fired electricity.
Proponents include former conservative prime minister John Howard, Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, prominent local entrepreneur Dick Smith, Australian Workers’ Union National Secretary Paul Howes and former Labor Party president Warren Mundine.
Australia has almost 40 percent of the world’s known uranium reserves, but supplies only 19 perceent of the world market. Australia has no nuclear power plants.
The country at present has only three mines, BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam, the world’s biggest uranium mine, Energy Resources Australia’s Ranger mine in the Northern Territory and the Beverly mine, owned by US company General Atomics.
Australia has 22 bilateral nuclear safeguard agreements, which allow exports to 39 countries.
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