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SYDNEY : Australia will sign a multi-billion-dollar deal with Russia on Friday to supply uranium for civilian uses, a report said Wednesday.
The deal will be signed by Prime Minister John Howard and Russia President Vladimir Putin, who is due in Australia on Friday for an ongoing summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, The Australian newspaper said.
Although no source was given for the date, the newspaper said Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had rejected criticisms of the deal, saying there would be stringent safeguards against military use or selling the uranium on to third parties.
Moscow would have no interest in breaching it, which would risk a confrontation with the west, Downer has said.
"Russia wouldn't contemplate it. To think that they would is just to demonstrate complete ignorance about democracy, and about Russia," Downer was quoted saying.
The uranium would be for use in Russian civilian reactors.
Australia already exports uranium to Russia, but only for processing by a third party.
Prime Minister John Howard has publicly refused to comment on whether such a deal could be signed during the APEC meeting, although government figures have previously indicated it was likely.
The deal would follow a similar one with India last month, which has also been widely criticised.
Australia is one of the world's top suppliers of uranium, exporting around A$630 million (US$520 million) of the nuclear fuel in the 2006-07 financial year, which ended on June 30. - AFP/ch
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