The Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) will receive delivery of natural uranium concentrate from Australia via the US, a Taipower official confirmed yesterday.
The first shipment, sold by BHP Billiton to Taipower, is expected to arrive in the US for processing under an indirect sale arrangement before the end of this month, said a Taipower section chief who would only give his surname, Cheng.
Under a bilateral agreement between Canberra and Washington, a US nuclear plant will first convert and enrich the uranium.
Processing
It will take at least one year for the plant to process the shipment before delivering completed fuel assemblies to Taipower, Cheng said.
The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday quoted Taipower's Sydney-based executive Samson Lee as saying: "We like to diversify our fuel sources, so this first shipment from Australia is appreciated."
The uranium would "only be for peaceful power generation," the Herald quoted him as saying.
Willing
Supporters of the sale of Australian uranium to Taiwan say that although Taiwan is not a signatory to the UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, it is willing to accept testing and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Taipower has also reportedly signed contracts with Energy Resources of Australia for the purchase of uranium concentrate.
BHP Billiton yesterday refused to confirm the timing of the shipment or the US arrangement.
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