Sydney: Banking on Moscow signatory to
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Australian government has agreed
to export uranium to Russia, in a belief that there will be no
misuse of the nuclear fuel.
According to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, uranium will be
exported to Russia on the basis of the Intergovernmental
agreement on cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for
peaceful purposes, signed in 2007.
He stressed that Russia is a signatory to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is a firm guarantee in itself.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said, in his turn, that
after the signing of the agreement, the Australian authorities
had conducted their own investigation in close cooperation
with IAEA, and had come to the conclusion that Canberra could
trust Russia.
Smith said, they regard Russia "as a stable market, as a
country developing its nuclear power engineering".
Minister of Trade Simon Crean stressed that the
authorities Down Under had enough time for making sure that
the intentions of their Russian partners were really good, and
for getting proper guarantees.
According to Crean, the treaty, which has not been
ratified so far, says that uranium, to be delivered to Russia,
could be used only for peaceful purposes in accordance with
IAEA requirements and at the facilities, approved by
Australian suppliers.
Australia holds the second place in the world by the
amount of the uranium reserves after Canada (it accounts for
27 per cent of them). On the basis of the agreements signed,
Australia exports nuclear fuel to the United States, Japan and
China. (Itar-Tass)
PTI
First Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 18:47