Uranium sales to india? Risks & responsibilities

Prof.  M. V. Ramana: Nuclear Futures Laboratory, Princeton University

Hosted by the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre and the Indian Ocean and South Asia Research Network (IOSARN).

Since February the Australian Government has been 'in dialogue' with the Indian Government over potential uranium sales despite India's failure to sign the United Nations' Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  The Australia-India dialogue came to light following a FoI request by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Advocates speak of the need to 'modernise' Australia's approach, and cite India's history of non-proliferation, despite its failure to sign the NPT. The debate is intensifying as Australia moves to become the worlds' largest producer of uranium, following approval of expansion plans for the Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia. It is now expected there will be a proposal at the national ALP conference in December to allow uranium exports to India.   

What are the risks of selling uranium to India? What is the impact of maintaining the ban on uranium exports to non-signatories of the UN Treaty?   

Prof. Ramana works on the future of nuclear energy in the context of climate change and nuclear disarmament, and is completing a book on nuclear power in India. From 1998 he has been a Professor of physics at Princeton University and is currently appointed jointly with SGS and the Nuclear Futures Laboratory. Between 2004 and 2009 he was at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development in Bangalore. He is a member of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the International Panel on Fissile Materials. See publications at: http://nuclearfutures.princeton.edu/team/ramana/   

Prof. Ramana's Australian visit is sponsored by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.   

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