Australian uranium fuelled Fukushima and now fuels global insecurity

Australia's uranium supply agreement with China, concluded in 2006, has not been reviewed despite abundant evidence of inadequate nuclear safety standards, inadequate regulation, lack of transparency, repression of whistleblowers, world's worst insurance and liability arrangements, security risks, and widespread corruption.

Civil society and NGO's are campaigning to wind back Australia's atomic exposures in the uranium trade with emphasis on uranium sales to China.

China's human rights abuses and a range of strategic insecurity issues warrant a cessation of uranium sales. China's ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet and mass detention and forced labour against Uyghurs in Xinjiang are severe breaches of international humanitarian law and UN Treaties.

China proliferated nuclear weapons know-how to Pakistan, targets Australia in cyber-attacks, and is causing regional insecurity on the India border, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and in the Pacific.

BHP's Olympic Dam is the only company still selling Australian uranium into China. There is a case for the 'Big Australian' to forego uranium sales overall and an onus to end sales to China.

A federal Parliamentary Inquiry in Australia is investigating forced labour in Chinaand the options for Australia to respond. A case is before this Inquiry to disqualify China from supply of Australian uranium sales (see submission 02on human rights abuses and submission 02.1 on security risks).

Weapons proliferation risks

Australia supplies uranium with scant regard for nuclear safety risks. Likewise, proliferation risks are given short shrift.

Australia has uranium export agreements with all of the 'declared' nuclear weapons states - the U.S., U.K., China, France, Russia - although not one of them takes seriously its obligation under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue disarmament in good faith.

Australia claims to be working to discourage countries from producing fissile (explosive) material for nuclear bombs, but nonetheless exports uranium to countries blocking progress on the proposed Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty - and to countries refusing to sign or ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

And Australia gives Japan open-ended permission to separate and stockpile plutonium although that stockpiling fans regional proliferation risks and tensions in North-East Asia.

An industry in decline