The Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said "we have no plans to reconsider the issue at all," according to a media report.
Australia on Tuesday said the actual start of uranium trade with India will depend on negotiations on the issue between the two countries. "The question is when we get to the point of actually doing it that depends on the way the negotiations between the two countries develop," Australia's Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said while speaking at the fourth Australia-India Roundtable.
With the free market in nuclear fuels becoming accessible, India is poised to add a demand for 1,300 mt of uranium to a market already facing a tight supply situation.
Canada will supply uranium to energy-starved India beginning this year over a period of five years, a decision which was termed as a launch of a new era of bilateral cooperation and mutual trust by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Armed with a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group India is now scouting for uranium from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Niger to fuel its atomic power plants which are running at half their installed capacity.
The Bihar police have seized four kg of low-grade uranium in the Supaul district near Nepal border and arrested six persons in this connection, sources said on Tuesday.
India has received the first consignment of 60 tonnes of uranium from France for use as fuel to power its nuclear reactors following clearance by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group
The spokesman was non-committal in the kind of response of the United States.
The US has given weapons-grade to 42 other countries, which are now refusing to return it back.
India on Monday said that its commitment to non-proliferation is 'second to none' and the issue of procuring uranium from Australia will come up once it firms up an international arrangement for nuclear commerce.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who met his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith in Canberra, also said it was too early to refer to the issue of uranium sale as political discussions back home on implementing the N-deal were still on.
In a major catch for the Navi Mumbai Police, three persons have been arrested on charges of illegal possession of five kilograms of 'depleted uranium' even as Atomic Energy Regulatory Board said that the seized material did not pose any radiological hazard or security threat.
With India virtually putting on hold its civilian nuclear agreement with the United States, Australia has decided to review its plans to sell uranium to New Delhi. Efforts for a US-India nuclear pact, which would open India to IAEA, paved the way for Australia's uranium deal with India. Following reports that the negotiations for the operationalisation of the Indo-US deal have been stalled, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia will need to consult New Delhi.
There was a huge potential in n-power generation and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, now being expanded, was capable of producing 1,000 MW on its own.
Australia, home to the world's largest uranium reserves, could drop its ban on selling the yellowcake to India after a panel commissioned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hotoyama recommended changes to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Speaking at the State Banquet hosted in the honour of President Pranab Mukherjee, Namibian President Hage Geingob said Namibia commends India's commitment towards peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Russia's proposal about the creation of a joint venture for uranium enrichment on Russian soil is under negotiation and the Iranians are seriously considering it.
Visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made it clear that he will not buckle on Australia''s refusal to sell uranium to India just hours ahead of a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"The circumstances for India so far as export of uranium is concerned are in my view unique," Defence Minister Stephen Smith, who is currently visiting New Delhi to discuss security and defence cooperation, told ABC news channel. "Pakistan does not have the same record so far as proliferation is concerned. There have been serious expressions of concern about proliferation in the past," he said.
Unless India agrees to open its military facilities to nuclear inspectors, sale of uranium by Australia to that country will be a breach of the federal government's obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. "Australia would be in breach of the so-called Rarotonga Treaty, if India does not change its stand," Donald Rothwell of Australian National University said. The Rarotonga Treaty bans uranium sales to most countries.
United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday virtually backed Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plans to sell uranium to India saying it "seemed to be compatible with international law and the Non-Proliferation Treaty".
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday made a strong pitch for uranium sale to India, saying the time has come to lift the long-standing ban on its exports to the dynamic and democratic country.
The PMK has now lent its voice to the protests against the mining of atomic minerals in Kanyakumari.
Australian Opposition parties have been quick in taking a tough stand against Prime Minister John Howard for his 'recklessness.'
The report also said that without greater transparency and spot checks, the International Atomic Energy Agency cannot affirm that Tehran's nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes to produce energy and not weapons.
The US Senate is expected to decide this week to dump such a policy and pursue a new nuclear cooperation deal with India.
Defending her move to start talks on supplying uranium to India, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said the ruling Labor's previous stance against the sale was becoming an obstacle in ties, but made it clear that a safeguard agreement is likely to take one or two years.
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar on Saturday met representatives from various NGOs in Meghalaya, in an attempt to acquire their consent for uranium mining in the state.In view of the opposition to uranium mining by various NGOs and at least two political parties the Hill State People's Democratic Party and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement the state government had earlier constituted two expert committees to study the possible impact of mining.
Ruling out the sale of uranium to India until it signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Australia on Monday announced the setting up of a global body for nuclear disarmament, hoping to rope in 'like minded' countries.Rudd said he understood the Indian arguments, and said the United States administration had also put India's case to him, but the Labour party was firmly behind the NPT.India would not be able to circumvent the NPT by joining the commission.
The Meghalaya government has sought a nuclear power plant either in Meghalaya or any other suitable part of the Northeast India as a pre-condition for uranium mining in Meghalaya provided there would be no health or environment hazards because of the mining process.
The major advantages of such plants are no need of land to build the reactors, earthquake resistant, abundance of water for active or passive cooling.
India will raise the issue of supply of uranium from Australia during the three-day visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna from Wednesday, hopeful that Canberra will revisit its stated position of not supplying the yellow metal to non-NPT signatory countries.
Says it will make the world a better place
An offer to sell uranium pilfered from India's nuclear facilities by a businessman claiming to be a relative of a Nepalese diplomat set off a flurry of mails between US missions in late 1973.
The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has been angered by Prime Minister Julia Gillard's decision to lift a ban on uranium exports to India and her move threatens to divide the ruling Labor Party.
Divya Nair recommends that non-Vijay fans save their money and wait for GOAT to drop on Netflix instead. At least you can fast forward and get to the climax faster.
As Australia is one of the world's biggest uranium-producing countries, its attitude will be critical to India's efforts to open up trade in nuclear materials.
Blix said the Cold War thinking underpinned the US' new nuclear deal with India, which he says is aimed at containing China.
Australian PM rules out uranium deal with India
Vijay has a lot of young and middle-aged women fans, but as voters, they are possibly now with the DMK, or remain with the AIADMK. Recapturing this constituency would have helped Vijay's political launch and the GOAT script and dialogues could have gone a long way in helping out. But the kind of script and screenplay and the unusually and equally unnecessary long run-time (3 hours, 3 minutes) that GOAT offers takes the film experience over the heads of those that are not familiar with secret agents and uranium theft in Tamil cinema, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
