urg::: Aussie Greens oppose uranium sale to India

[Len Kanaar - FoE Sydney]

NewKerala, India

Aussie Greens oppose uranium sale to India:

Sydney: Australia's Green Party has slammed Liberal government plans 
to sell uranium to Asian nuclear powers India and China.

The proposed export of uranium to India and China by Howard 
government has been termed as ''undermining nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty'' by Australian Greens climate change spokesperson Senator 
Christine Milne.

''Federal government ministers are taking up nuclear power because 
they know they cannot sustain an argument which says that nuclear 
power is not safe in Australia but is safe for the Indians and the 
Chinese,'' Senator Milne said in a statement today.

''The Prime Minister was prepared to commit Australian troops to the 
war in Iraq because of the unproven claim of weapons of mass 
destruction, yet is prepared to sell uranium to countries with 
nuclear weapons programmes,'' Senator Milne added.

The Green politician has reminded the Howard government about the 
Chernobyl disaster and asked to abandon promoting nuclear power 
option.

Senator Milne's statement is not likely to make much difference in an 
environment where there has been a growing debate and lobbying to 
allow mining of the huge uranium reserves.

Various Australian states have imposed restrictions on mining of the 
yellow metal used in, besides generating energy, nuclear weapons.

But the economists and politicians have been urging for more mining 
to feed insatiable demand for the energy resources from the emerging 
Asian economic giants - India and China.

The prospect of harnessing current boom in uranium mining seems to 
have propelled the Howard government to call for a parliamentary 
inquiry into the strategic importance of Australia's uranium 
reserves. The Australian mining industry has always been lobbying for 
more liberalized policy regarding uranium exports.


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