Uranium ban

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard believes the time is right to change the country's uranium export policy in favor of the South Asian nuclear power India. She is expected to bring the issue up in the annual Labor Party conference in Sydney next month, where her proposal is likely to face opposition from members of her own party.

In order to get India on the uranium export list, Gillard must first get the new policy ratified by her party members.

The opposition is largely based on India's status as a nuclear nation that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which many countries, including Australia, consider a prerequisite for uranium export. However, the Australian prime minister is of the opinion that the economic benefits of the uranium export to India are too big to ignore.

Economics benefits vs global security

"I believe the time has come for Labor to change its position," Gillard told the media on Tuesday. "Selling uranium to India will be good for the Australian economy and for Australian jobs."

But some Labor officials do not agree with Gillard's argument. "We'll simply be exporting uranium to India and that will free up uranium within India for the military program," warned Labor Party senator Doug Cameron for example.

The Australian Green Party too, which is part of the coalition government, criticized the possible shift in Australia's uranium policy, saying the PM wanted to put "the commercial interests of multinational mining companies ahead of global safety."

"India is a country that has intermediate-range missiles," said Greens leader Bob Brown, "It's developing a plethora of nuclear submarines with nuclear weapons."

However, Gillard has the support of the conservative Australian opposition on the issue, which has long demanded a change in Australia's uranium export policy so Canberra could benefit from the expanding Indian market and its ever-increasing energy needs.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Australia exports uranium to China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States. India has so far been excluded from the list because it has not yet signed the NPT.

However, the US has signed nuclear deals with New Delhi despite criticism that this goes against its own rules of not maintaining nuclear ties with non-NPT nations.

India's neighbor and arch-rival Pakistan, also a non-NPT nuclear power, criticizes the West for its nuclear "double-standards" by favoring India and not giving the same benefits to Islamabad.

India welcomes the move

On Tuesday, India's External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna welcomed Gillard's move saying Canberra recognized "our growing energy needs, our impeccable non-proliferation record and the strategic partnership between the two countries."

Australia is not a nuclear power although it is the third biggest uranium producers in the world lagging behind only Kazakhstan and Canada. According to the World Nuclear Association, Australia has the world's largest uranium reserves, holding 23 percent of the total.

Author: Shamil Shams (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Anne Thomas