Antinuclear

Australia’s uranium sales relate to nuclear weapons

The New START treaty comes at a time when Australia has recently agreed to supply uranium to Russia, despite it being notoriously non-transparent to outside observers of its weapons programs.

Nuclear arms treaty merely a start | The Australian James Norman December 28, 2010 “………….The New START treaty also poses questions for Australia and its place in contributing towards a world constantly threatened by the spectre of nuclear weapons.

As we have seen recently on the Korean peninsula, the reality of living in a nuclear-armed world is that regional diplomacy can take on a deadly dimension almost overnight. The consequences can be diabolical for those countries unfortunate enough to be sucked into its deadly orbit.

The New START treaty comes at a time when Australia has recently agreed to supply uranium to Russia, despite it being notoriously non-transparent to outside observers of its weapons programs. In fact, we know the International Atomic Energy Agency hasn’t carried out a single inspection of Russia’s nuclear weapons arsenal in the past decade.

As Australia has set its sights on becoming the salesperson to about 30 per cent of the global uranium market, it has an obligation to ensure our uranium sales are not fuelling potentially explosive global tensions.

Our focus must equally be on moving away from any new programs – including programs linked to Australian uranium exports – that will continue to endanger people all over the world for decades to come. While the New START treaty takes us some way down that road of nuclear weapons abolition Obama dared to dream aloud in Prague, we all need to keep a reality check on what is actually achievable.

Last week, the Senate took a crucial first step in the right direction with the ratification of the treaty. But rather than an end in itself, the focus should be on ways to accelerate the liberation of the world from the great existential threat these weapons represent……

Nuclear arms treaty merely a start | The Australian

December 27, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, uranium