stop uranium sales to Russia
FoE is asking for support to help stop uranium sales to Russia. We've just had a major victory in that battle but more needs to be done.
STOP URANIUM SALES TO RUSSIA
FoE is asking for support to help stop uranium sales to Russia. We've just had a major victory in that battle but more needs to be done.
On September 18, federal parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties released its report on a uranium export agreement signed by John Howard and Vladimir Putin in September 2007. The Committee concluded that the government should not ratify the agreement until a number of onerous conditions have been met, the most important being:
* The implementation of nuclear safeguards inspections in Russia.
* Russian compliance with its disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
* Further consideration of the unresolved problem of nuclear theft and smuggling.
* Consideration of the ramifications of "recent political events affecting Russia" (referring to Russia's illegal invasion of Georgia and its illegal threats to strike Poland with nuclear weapons).
* Separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities.
This was a major victory for everyone who raised objections to selling uranium to Putin's Russia. Good on you!
But there is more work to be done. Before the end of the year the government will decide whether to accept, reject or renegotiate the Howard/Putin agreement. Please write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith asking them to reject the agreement.
Some of the most important arguments are summarised below. More information is posted at: <www.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/russia>. The Joint Standing Committee report and submissions are posted at: <www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/14may2008>/
Thanks for your support!
Jim Green
Contact details:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600.
Or contact via web-form: <www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm>
Stephen Smith
Foreign Minister
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600
Email: <Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au>
REJECT THE HOWARD/PUTIN URANIUM AGREEMENT
Safeguards are non-existent in Russia
The Howard/Putin agreement clearly fails the safeguards test. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not conducted any safeguards inspections in Russia since 2001. There is no requirement in the Howard/Putin agreement for any IAEA inspections to take place in future. The agreement makes no provision for independent, Australian inspection and verification and we are therefore reliant on IAEA safeguards - which are non-existent. The agreement makes provision for Australian uranium to be processed in unsafeguarded conversion and enrichment plants.
Russia is a menacing nuclear weapons state
Ratifying a uranium export agreement with a menacing nuclear weapons state would seriously undermine the Rudd government's International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
Russia illegally threatened Poland with nuclear strikes following an August 20 agreement to host US missile defence bases in Poland.
Russia has a huge arsenal of over 14,000 nuclear weapons with an explosive yield equivalent to about 200,000 Hiroshima weapons. In recent years there have been a steady stream of reports of Russia developing new delivery capabilities, new types of nuclear weapons, increased importance given to nuclear weapons in its security posture, an increase in force exercises, resumption of long-range patrols near NATO airspace, and an increase in missile test launches.
Putin has said that maintaining a nuclear arsenal "remains one of the top priorities of Russian Federation policy" and that Russia will develop "missile technology including completely new strategic [nuclear] complexes."
Lack of respect for national and international law
In Putin's Russia, whistle-blowers and political dissidents are intimidated, imprisoned and sometimes murdered. The media is controlled. Political democracy has been reduced to a sham. As The Australian noted in an editorial following the fraudulent election in Russia last year, "Russia has taken another regrettable step along the road to authoritarianism with a sham poll ... There is no independent judiciary and no rule of law. Corruption is rampant."
Internationally, the situation is no better. Russia has withdrawn from international treaties such as the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. Russia's recent invasion of Georgia was carried out without UN authorisation and without any attempt to secure UN authorisation. Russia's recent threat to strike Poland with nuclear weapons is a violation of international law. The 'modernisation' of Russia's nuclear weapons arsenal is a violation of its international treaty obligations under the NPT.
Nuclear theft and smuggling
The IAEA's Director-General, Dr Mohamed El Baradei, has recently estimated that only half of Russia's nuclear materials have been reasonably secured. A 2007 investigation by the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate and a subsidiary of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency found that a large number of nuclear facilities in Russia have "insufficient" security measures.
FoE is asking for support to help stop uranium sales to Russia. We've just had a major victory in that battle but more needs to be done.
On September 18, federal parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties released its report on a uranium export agreement signed by John Howard and Vladimir Putin in September 2007. The Committee concluded that the government should not ratify the agreement until a number of onerous conditions have been met, the most important being:
* The implementation of nuclear safeguards inspections in Russia.
* Russian compliance with its disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
* Further consideration of the unresolved problem of nuclear theft and smuggling.
* Consideration of the ramifications of "recent political events affecting Russia" (referring to Russia's illegal invasion of Georgia and its illegal threats to strike Poland with nuclear weapons).
* Separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities.
This was a major victory for everyone who raised objections to selling uranium to Putin's Russia. Good on you!
But there is more work to be done. Before the end of the year the government will decide whether to accept, reject or renegotiate the Howard/Putin agreement. Please write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith asking them to reject the agreement.
Some of the most important arguments are summarised below. More information is posted at: <www.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/russia>. The Joint Standing Committee report and submissions are posted at: <www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/14may2008>/
Thanks for your support!
Jim Green
Contact details:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600.
Or contact via web-form: <www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm>
Stephen Smith
Foreign Minister
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600
Email: <Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au>
REJECT THE HOWARD/PUTIN URANIUM AGREEMENT
Safeguards are non-existent in Russia
The Howard/Putin agreement clearly fails the safeguards test. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not conducted any safeguards inspections in Russia since 2001. There is no requirement in the Howard/Putin agreement for any IAEA inspections to take place in future. The agreement makes no provision for independent, Australian inspection and verification and we are therefore reliant on IAEA safeguards - which are non-existent. The agreement makes provision for Australian uranium to be processed in unsafeguarded conversion and enrichment plants.
Russia is a menacing nuclear weapons state
Ratifying a uranium export agreement with a menacing nuclear weapons state would seriously undermine the Rudd government's International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
Russia illegally threatened Poland with nuclear strikes following an August 20 agreement to host US missile defence bases in Poland.
Russia has a huge arsenal of over 14,000 nuclear weapons with an explosive yield equivalent to about 200,000 Hiroshima weapons. In recent years there have been a steady stream of reports of Russia developing new delivery capabilities, new types of nuclear weapons, increased importance given to nuclear weapons in its security posture, an increase in force exercises, resumption of long-range patrols near NATO airspace, and an increase in missile test launches.
Putin has said that maintaining a nuclear arsenal "remains one of the top priorities of Russian Federation policy" and that Russia will develop "missile technology including completely new strategic [nuclear] complexes."
Lack of respect for national and international law
In Putin's Russia, whistle-blowers and political dissidents are intimidated, imprisoned and sometimes murdered. The media is controlled. Political democracy has been reduced to a sham. As The Australian noted in an editorial following the fraudulent election in Russia last year, "Russia has taken another regrettable step along the road to authoritarianism with a sham poll ... There is no independent judiciary and no rule of law. Corruption is rampant."
Internationally, the situation is no better. Russia has withdrawn from international treaties such as the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. Russia's recent invasion of Georgia was carried out without UN authorisation and without any attempt to secure UN authorisation. Russia's recent threat to strike Poland with nuclear weapons is a violation of international law. The 'modernisation' of Russia's nuclear weapons arsenal is a violation of its international treaty obligations under the NPT.
Nuclear theft and smuggling
The IAEA's Director-General, Dr Mohamed El Baradei, has recently estimated that only half of Russia's nuclear materials have been reasonably secured. A 2007 investigation by the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate and a subsidiary of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency found that a large number of nuclear facilities in Russia have "insufficient" security measures.
