Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. India has a substantial and growing need for energy to sustain its development and massive population growth. Along with coal, nuclear power plays a key role in that country. As the fastest growing major economy in the world, with gross domestic product growth rates consistently above seven per cent, India is hungry for energy to sustain its development.

To put India's need for energy in perspective: energy use has almost doubled since 2000. However, energy consumption per capita is still only around one-third of the global average, and some 240 million people have absolutely no access to electricity. Three-quarters of Indian energy demand is met by fossil fuels—a share that has been rising as households gradually move away from burning wood and other biomass for cooking. Coal is the backbone of the Indian power sector, accounting for over 70 per cent of generation, and is the most plentiful domestic fossil fuel resource.

By 2050, when India's population is expected to reach 1.7 billion people, India aims to provide 25 per cent of its energy from nuclear power. Completion of the nuclear reactors already under construction will add substantially to India's existing nuclear power generation capacity, but to fuel that capacity India will need up to 2,000 tonnes of uranium each year. At this very moment Australian uranium companies are actively pursuing the new market opportunities that India presents.

In 2008 the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which is made up of almost 50 nations, recognised India's commitments to support international nonproliferation efforts, including continuing its moratorium on nuclear testing; separating its civil and military nuclear activities; and accepting International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. I am happy to say that, to its credit, India has met these commitments.

Successive Australian governments have worked to establish arrangements enabling uranium sales to India. This has been done despite the fact that India is not a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which therefore raises the possibility of a domestic legal challenge in Australia. The Australian government is satisfied that Australian uranium can be supplied to India within the current framework of our relevant treaty commitments. However, a possible Australian domestic legal challenge would be based on an assertion that Australia is not complying with its obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty—and possibly under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons—because India's safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency does not apply to all of its nuclear activities.

Australia has developed arrangements for nuclear cooperation with India in conformity with the framework agreed to by the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008—a group that includes all of the major nuclear supplier countries and others that are active in nonproliferation efforts. The Nuclear Suppliers Group decision recognises that, because India is not a party to the nonproliferation treaty and because it has nuclear weapons, an India-specific model for International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards needs to apply to nuclear material and related items transferred to India. Thus, the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards in India apply to facilities designated by India for civil purposes, as well as to any imported nuclear material or nuclear related items, including uranium sourced and provided from Australia.

Australia has a hard-won, hard-fought reputation as a safe, reliable, cost-effective supplier of energy, and one of Australia's uranium miners is close to finalising an initial contract for supply to India. At least one other is pursuing commercial negotiations with Indian buyers. In light of this, the Civil Nuclear Transfers to India Bill 2016 will provide certainty to exporters by mitigating the risks that exports of uranium to India could be hindered by a domestic legal challenge. The bill clarifies that decisions approving civil nuclear transfers to India are taken with due regard to Australia's obligations to nuclear safeguards under non-proliferation treaties if particular conditions are met. Those conditions relate to the application of nuclear safeguards under India's agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as the requirements of the Australia-India agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change observed in 2014 that achieving deep cuts in greenhouse gases will require more intensive use of a range of low-carbon technologies, including nuclear energy. Nuclear power has the ability to make further significant contributions to the reduction of CO2 emissions worldwide. India aims to raise nuclear capacity from six gigawatts today to 63 gigawatts in 2032, an increase that is comparable to Australia's entire power generation capacity. As of this month, 30 countries worldwide are operating 450 nuclear reactors to generate electricity to power homes and businesses. Many of these nuclear power plants have been in operation for decades. However, the interesting statistic is that another 60 new nuclear plants are under construction in 15 countries to meet ever-increasing demand. Nuclear power plants provided 10.9 per cent of the world's electricity production in 2012. In 2015, 13 countries relied on nuclear energy to supply at least one-quarter of their total electricity.

For its part, India has 22 nuclear plants in operation and another five under construction. India's ambitious plans to expand nuclear energy generation are likely to make a valuable contribution to its pledged reductions in emissions intensity. Worldwide nuclear energy avoids, on average, the emissions of about 2½ billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Nuclear energy facilities do not emit criteria pollutants or greenhouse gases when they generate electricity, but certain processes used to build and fuel the plants do. This is true for all energy facilities.

Independent studies have assessed nuclear energy's life cycle emissions and found them to be comparable to wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric generation. According to the US Department of Energy and the Energy Information Administration report, Voluntary reporting of greenhouse gases 1997, the single most effective emissions control strategy for utilities is to increase nuclear generation.

In fact, in 2015 nuclear energy accounted for 62.4 per cent of US emission-free generation, and US nuclear energy facilities avoided 564 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2015 across the US. This is nearly as much carbon dioxide as is released from nearly 128 million cars, which is more than all US passenger cars. Without the emission avoidances from nuclear generation required reductions in the US would increase by more than 50 per cent to achieve targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Nuclear energy also prevents approximately half a million tonnes of nitrogen oxide, which is equivalent to that released by 44 million cars.

I understand that the mention of nuclear energy sends shivers down some people's spines. I too grew up in a world that was living through the Cold War—that ideological game of international brinkmanship between the USA and the USSR and their surrogates. During those decades, nuclear war was a clear and present danger, existing not just in movies. The threat was real because nuclear energy seemingly meant nuclear weapons. But nuclear energy is not fundamentally objectionable. However, it must be managed carefully and with strict controls. Indeed, it has the ability to literally turn the lights on for hundreds of millions of people around the world and lead them out of poverty and into a modern, interconnected world. Nuclear power plants are the most reliable source of electricity, operating 24 hours seven days a week for 18 to 24 months before shutting down briefly to refuel.

Our uranium, used in Indian nuclear power plants, will provide reliable baseload power on demand. This bill reflects Australia's responsible decision to supply uranium to India on the basis of the Nuclear Suppliers Group decision and the safeguards that India and the International Atomic Energy Agency have put in place to implement it, as well as the conditions in the Australia-India agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. This bill will give legal and commercial certainty to uranium mining companies in Australia so that they can fulfil contracts to supply Australian uranium to India for civil use with confidence. It will ensure that newly established export streams and the jobs that they support will not be at risk from a successful Australian domestic legal challenge to a decision enabling uranium supply to India. Any future bilateral trade in other nuclear-related material, or items for civil use, will also be protected.

I am heartened by the stance of those opposite on this particular issue. It is a welcome thing to see—a more bipartisan approach, particularly on an issue like this that can significantly lead to reduced poverty in a country such as India. It is a pity that we cannot come together more often as we have on this particular bill.

Australian uranium will help to power India's growth and lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. I commend the foreign minister for pursuing this issue to assist the Indian people. It will also ensure Australian businesses and workers are able to benefit.

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