While both the Morrison and Albanian governments have repeatedly insisted that they did not want to acquire nuclear weapons, the report states that the possibility of Australia not being ruled out cannot be ruled out, sweeping Canberra’s consideration of the issue in the 1950s. and 60 as “evidence” of nuclear ambitions.
It also accuses Australia of double standards in arms control through the planned purchase of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade rejected the report’s findings, saying it contained “numerous incorrect statements.”
“Australia, the US and the UK will implement the strictest possible non-proliferation standards to maintain the strength and integrity of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime in relation to nuclear-powered submarines,” it said in a statement.
“The government has made it very clear that Australia is not and will not be looking for nuclear weapons.
“Australia’s decision to acquire conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines is something we are pursuing openly and transparently.”
The release of the report comes as the Albanian government and Beijing take interim steps to repair the bilateral relationship, including the first face-to-face meetings between ministers for nearly three years and the possibility that the ban on Australian coal exports could be lifted. .
Lower grade uranium
The Australian government insists AUKUS can be delivered without violating Australia’s non-proliferation obligations and has sent diplomats to the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and other countries to relieve nerves.
Australia hosted IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi earlier this month and all three AUKUS partners are working with the UN body to set strict verification standards.
According to the plan, the reactors of the Australian submarines will use highly enriched uranium, which will enter inside a sealed unit that does not require opening during the life of the ship, which is expected to be about 30 years.
The use of lower-grade uranium, as countries such as China and France do, would require refueling the submarine, which Australia does not have the infrastructure to do.
Australian diplomats argue that uranium configured as fuel for a nuclear reactor is not a weapon material. They also maintain that the non-proliferation treaty does not prohibit transfers.
China released the report ahead of the 10th UN Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which will begin on August 1 in New York, and where it wants AUKUS to be a focal point. ‘agenda for discussion.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the report is “further proof that the international community’s concerns about cooperation with AUKUS nuclear submarines are well-founded.”
Chinese diplomats have also used IAEA meetings to put pressure on AUKUS.
However, the same day the report was published, the South China Morning Post published a story that revealed that Chinese researchers in Beijing had designed a submarine drone that could travel 10,000 kilometers in a week, carrying a payload. of torpedoes and putting the west coast of the US within reach. .
The drone would be powered by a small nuclear reactor powered by several pounds of uranium and would be buried on the seabed at the end of its mission.
China already owns about 350 nuclear warheads, and the Pentagon expects the arsenal to increase to 1,000 by 2030, and also operates 12 nuclear-powered submarines.
Former Defense Department chief Peter Jennings said China was guilty of hypocrisy.
“There is no country that proliferates faster than China,” he said.
“What China is trying to do here is find any way to make AUKUS fail because Beijing is concerned about AUKUS and the Quad and our ability to form alliances with like-minded democracies, which China is unable to do and fears more.”
Jennings said Australia did not need to acquire nuclear weapons while it had a working alliance and was under the umbrella of U.S. nuclear deterrence.