Australia 'innocently' exported N-kno whow: Minister informs seminar
SYDNEY, Nov 30: Australia may have "innocently" exported nuclear technology to parties with weapons of mass destruction programs, Defence Minister Robert Hill said on Tuesday on the sidelines of an anti-proliferation forum.
As environmental lobby Green peace accused Australia of double standards over nuclear proliferation, Mr Hill urged all Southeast Asian nations to closely monitor their exports of what he called "dual-use" goods.
Hill did not specify whether the material in question may have gone to government or non-government bodies, and said he had no reports of such products being obtained by terrorist organisations.
He described the goods as "nuclear-area technologies that can have legitimate non-threatening value, but at the same time can be used within a nuclear weapons program".Hill declined to comment specifically on Silex, which occupies floor space of the government-funded Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney.
Green peace campaigner James Courtney said the government's support set a "dangerous double standard that erodes international efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons-related technology."
Courtney called on the government to set an example to the rest of the world by ending research into sensitive nuclear technologies that posed proliferation risks. "Our government is currently pressuring Iran to abandon its enrichment program and went to war to stop Iraq from developing this type of technology," he said.
Hill described Australia's system for monitoring exports as "quite sophisticated". "Any company that is exporting a dual-use or potential dual-use technology from Australia that falls within the definitions within our legislation requires export approval and we examine that very carefully," he said.
"We look at the record of the intended recipient, the state and company or institution that's receiving those technologies, and sometimes we give guidance to the company. "Sometimes under our legislation we simply advise them that the export will not be permitted."
Hill also told delegates from 19 countries attending talks by the US-backed Proliferation Security Initiative in Sydney: "We would like to see our efforts in that regard reciprocated by all states within our region."
Australia's Greens said they intended to ask questions in parliament about Silex's activities, saying its research could inadvertently help the spread of nuclear weapons. -AFP
