Australia, China In Talks To Modify Uranium Supply Treaty
May 14 2009 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
Australia and China are negotiating changes to a uranium supply
agreement to accommodate expansion plans proposed by BHP Billiton
Ltd. (BHP) for its Olympic Dam mine, according to a document
mistakenly made public in parliament late Wednesday by Foreign
Minister Stephen Smith.
BHP Billiton proposes to export a concentrate to China for the
extraction of uranium and copper there, in lieu of building the
full uranium and copper production capacity at Olympic Dam,
according to the document.
The current nuclear transfer agreement between the two nations
is focused primarily on uranium supply through uranium ore
concentrates. It allows for uranium extraction from other ores and
concentrates, but only for non-nuclear purposes.
Hence, an amendment or supplementary agreement is required to
ensure Australian uranium is satisfactorily accounted for during
the extraction process from copper concentrate, and that any
uranium extracted becomes nuclear material subject to the
provisions of the nuclear transfer agreement.
An initial round of negotiations to change the agreement was
held in Beijing Jan. 15.
Australia and China first signed a treaty on the transfer of
nuclear material on April 3, 2006. The first Australian uranium was
exported to China late in 2008, under a policy that only allows its
use for civil nuclear energy purposes. China wants to import more
uranium from Australia as it expands its nuclear generation
capacity.
Trade Minister Simon Crean said it was embarrassing the document
containing information that negotiations are under way has become
public, but he doesn't expect he will receive any feedback on the
breach of confidentiality.
"But if there are concerns we'll deal with them," he told
reporters Thursday.
All that was issued Wednesday was a schedule of bilateral and
multilateral treaty negotiations, he added.
On May 1, BHP Billiton issued a draft environmental impact
statement to seek government approvals for a huge 5-stage expansion
of the Olympic Dam mine over 11 years to eventually yield 750,000
metric tons of copper, 19,000 tons of uranium oxide and 800,000
troy ounces of gold, compared with the current output of 170,000
tons of copper, 4,144 tons of uranium oxide and 80,517 ounces of
gold.
-By Ray Brindal, Dow Jones Newswires; 612-6208-0902;
ray.brindal@dowjones.com