freediver
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http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Coalition-split-on-nuclear-power-Labor/2007/08/20/1187462125227.html
The coalition is split over plans to create a nuclear power industry in Australia, Labor says.
The government says nuclear power should be considered as an option for future energy supplies.
But Nationals candidate Dr Sue Page, who will contest the federal seat of Richmond in northern NSW in the coming election, said the junior coalition party was committed to opposing nuclear development.
Opposition spokesman for infrastructure, Anthony Albanese, said Dr Page's position represented a rupture in the coalition policy.
"The coalition is split to the extent that it's arguing that you can have 25 nuclear reactors but they won't actually be located anywhere," Mr Albanese told ABC radio.
India uranium deal 'to have safeguards'
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/India-uranium-deal-to-have-safeguards/2007/08/21/1187462231578.html
Uranium sold by Australia to India would not be available for use in weapons, Treasurer Peter Costello said.
Prime Minister John Howard last week announced it had reached a conditional agreement to sell uranium to India although it is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
The exports to India will be subject to strict conditions, including guarantees uranium would only be used for power generation and regular inspections.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group will also have to approve the agreement.
China searches for 'missing' uranium
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/China-searches-for-missing-uranium/2007/08/24/1187462495685.html
Eight kilograms of radioactive uranium is missing in China, delaying the verdict in a trial of four men charged with attempting to sell it on the black market, state media says.
A court in Guangzhou, capital of China's southern province of Guangdong, heard the four tried to sell the material, which can be used in making nuclear weapons, between 2005 and January 2007, the China Daily said.
The men were arrested in January after a potential buyer in Hong Kong reported them to the authorities, the paper said.
However, despite having the four men in custody, police were unable to locate the uranium.
"The men claimed it had been lost because it had been moved around so much between potential buyers," the paper said.
N-power without weapons possible: Blix
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Npower-without-weapons-possible-Blix/2007/08/27/1188067000545.html
Former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said he was in favour of nuclear power and believed it could be pursued at the same time as nuclear disarmament.
Speaking at the United Nations Association of Australia 2007 National Conference in Melbourne, Dr Blix said it was "a nonsense" that nuclear power and nuclear weapons were inextricably linked.
"You can have nuclear power without nuclear weapons," Dr Blix said.
"It's a question about the (political) will, and therefore the decisive thing is to create such a world where countries don't feel the need for nuclear weapons."
He said Australia's proposed uranium exports to India would not breach the international non-proliferation treaty.
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