Why Australia shouldn't sell uranium to the UAE

Because of military links and commercial deals like the Qantas-Emirates alliance, the UAE is portrayed as an island of democracy and stability in the Middle East, however the recent crackdowns on even modest voices of reform suggest a different story.

Australia's plan to sell uranium to the UAE is ill-considered. It essentially requires us to turn a blind eye to the UAE's poor democratic form and strikes a blow to the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East. It also fails to apply adequate scrutiny and attention to Australia's corner cutting uranium trade - an industry described by a Senate report as needing urgent changes in order to protect the environment and people from 'serious or irreversible damage'.

In the shadow of Fukushima – an ongoing nuclear crisis directly fuelled by Australian uranium – nuclear energy's place in the global energy mix is literally under a cloud. Against this backdrop the commercial interest of a small, high risk-low return industrial sector should not be confused with Australia's long term national interest.

Instead of fast-tracking increasingly irresponsible uranium sales to the UAE, India and beyond - or continuing to provide nuclear materials to nuclear weapon states - we urgently need a mature and independent assessment of the domestic and international impacts of Australia's contested and contaminating uranium trade.