The Guardian, Daniel Hurst
24 July 2024
Nuclear ‘loophole’ on uranium transfers needs closing, UN forum told
The world should close a “loophole” that allows countries with nuclear weapons to transfer highly enriched uranium to non-nuclear weapons states such as Australia, a youth activist has said in a statement to a United Nations conference in Geneva.
Thomas Huckans, from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and its youth initiative, Reverse the Trend, delivered the statement on behalf of about 120 groups including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Bob Brown Foundation and the Australian Education Union.
Huckans said paragraph 14 of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) comprehensive safeguards agreement “potentially allows non-nuclear-armed states to acquire nuclear material, which would be removed from IAEA safeguards”.
Addressing countries that have joined the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Huckans argued that Australia’s “proposed acquisition of large quantities of [highly enriched uranium] outside of usual IAEA safeguards and scrutiny jeopardises non-proliferation efforts and fissile material security”.
Huckans urged countries to use an upcoming review of the treaty to “strengthen rather than weaken the global non-proliferation regime by moving to close the paragraph 14 loophole”.
Australia’s ambassador for arms control and counter-proliferation, Vanessa Wood, responded that Australia was engaging with the IAEA on a strong approach to safeguards and verification and intended to follow “the highest non-proliferation standard”.
Wood said:
It is unfortunate that there is continued politicisation of this important technical work.
