Italy seeks uranium

Press, 1 June 1977, Page 9

Italy seeks uranium

NZPA Rome The Italian Government has made it plain to the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) that it looks to Australia as a reliable supplier of uranium for its nuclear reactor. Uranium, and Australia’s yet-to-be-formulated export policy, dominated talks in Rome on Monday between Mr Fraser and the Italian Prime Minister (Mr Giulio Andreotti). Australian Government sources disclosed after the 40-m inute talks that Mr Fraser had indicated to his Italian counterpart that Australia was “nearing the end of the road” in the total process of making a decision on these matters. They said that Mr Fraser

had explained the background to the recently released Fox report and nuclear safeguards policy, and had indicated that his aim was to reach a decision soon after returning to Australia at the end of this month. The sources said that Italy was interested in a reliable supplier of uranium, and that it regarded Australia as such a supplier. They claimed after the talks that because Italy was firmly committed to nuclear non-proliferation, it would welcome Australia’s safeguards policy. And they said that Mr Fraser did not rule out Italy on ideological grounds because the Italian coalition Government included the Communist Party.

Apparently not raised at the talks was the Italian Government’s involvement in the building of a nuclear power plant of the plutonium breeding type, recently banned in the United States by President Carter. The French plant will be built by a company owned 51 per cent by the nationalised Electricite de France, 33 per cent by the Italian Government-run Ente Nazionale Electricitia, and 16 per cent by R.W.E. of West Germany.

President Carter has banned such breeder reactors in the United States as a unilateral step against proliferation of plutonium which can be used in nuclear weapons.