Antinuclear

Australia’s uranium to Arab world- (take back radioactive wastes later?)

Such a stable part of the world – the Middle East ?   Australia to take back the radioactive wastes – LATER? – C.M 

When Abu Dhabi outlined its plans to build the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant in 2008, it had hoped that some supplier nations would be willing to take back the waste.

Australia to supply UAE nuclear fuel but won’t take radioactive waste, The National April Yee Aug 1, 2012  ABU DHABI // Australia has opened the door to supplying the UAE with nuclear fuel but has ruled out taking back the radioactive waste it generates.

“The UAE meets all the tests, and the tests are rigorous and extensive and we’re happy to make a big commitment to providing them with energy security,” the Australian foreign minister Bob Carr said yesterday.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah, signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Mr Carr last night allowing for such nuclear trade as Abu Dhabi prepares to award a major contract for 15 years’ worth of uranium. But fuel leasing, in which the supplier takes back the spent fuel, is off the cards for now in Australia, which also bans nuclear plants at home.

“Public opinion in Australia would be resolutely opposed to taking
back nuclear waste,” said Mr Carr. “That’s a very big step, and there
wouldn’t be public support for it.”

When Abu Dhabi outlined its plans to build the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant in 2008, it had hoped that some supplier nations would be willing to take back the waste.

For suppliers, the benefits lie in preventing proliferation; for
consumers, it frees them of the problem of storing the radioactive
material. Since then Abu Dhabi has signed nuclear cooperation treaties
with the US, UK, France and South Korea, awarded a Dh75 billion
nuclear plant contract and last month – with the first foundation
concrete pouring – became the first nation to launch a civilian
nuclear programme from scratch since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

But there has been slower progress with fuel leasing, which until now
has been used only for small amounts of waste from research reactors.

The UAE is crafting a waste-management strategy that could include an
underground storage site within its borders or a shared regional
repository, should the GCC decide to build one. It is not relying on a
single approach, said Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE permanent representative
to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear
watchdog, and the chief negotiator for the nation’s nuclear
cooperation treaties…..
Mr Carr praised the UAE for providing a counter-example to Iran’s
nuclear programme, which western nations suspect is aimed at
developing nuclear weapons….
http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/australia-to-supply-uae-nuclear-fuel-but-wont-take-radioactive-waste

August 1, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, uranium