SYDNEY, March 14: Australia expects to sign an agreement soon to sell uranium to China after negotiations aimed at preventing its use in nuclear weapons, the government said on Tuesday.

“The agreement is nearing finalization and is expected to be signed in the near future,” a spokeswoman for the department of foreign affairs said.

News of the breakthrough with China comes just days after Australia rebuffed requests for uranium from another booming Asian nation, India, on the grounds that Delhi has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Australia has the world’s largest known uranium reserves and is anxious to cash in on growing markets and rising prices but has insisted it must first be confident the nuclear material will not be used to build weapons.

The latest round of negotiations in Beijing at the beginning of this month “proceeded in a positive and constructive atmosphere and substantial progress was made”, the foreign affairs spokeswoman said.

“Both sides are satisfied with the results of the negotiations.”

The two countries had reiterated their support for nuclear non-proliferation “and their commitment to cooperate in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy”, she said.

While no date for the signing has been announced, there is speculation that it could take place during a visit to Australia by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao next month.

China is planning a massive nuclear power expansion to help meet the insatiable demand for energy from its sizzling economy, adding as many as 32 nuclear reactors to the 11 already in operation within the next 15 years.—AFP