Aust to push for Asia nuke laws

Australia said on Wednesday it would push for Asia-wide regulations covering nuclear power, similar to Europe, which would boost confidence in nuclear non-proliferation following North Korea's reported nuclear test.
As Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam look at new nuclear plants to meet surging power demand, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Canberra backed an Asian equivalent of the European Atomic Energy Community, or EURATOM.
"The idea of the region working together under a single framework in the way that the European Union does is, I think, quite a good idea," Downer told an energy security conference in Canberra. "I think it's something we should look at."
"Quite apart from anything else, the publics of Asia as well as other parts of the world, need constant reassurance about the commitment of governments to non-proliferation," he said.
EURATOM was set up in 1957 to create a market for atomic energy and distribute it through the European Union, as well as develop and sell nuclear energy.
China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia either have, or are looking at building, nuclear power plants. Malaysia and Vietnam are considering them.
Australia holds about 40% of the world's recoverable uranium and is a major exporter of uranium, with export agreements covering 37 countries.
Australia has no domestic nuclear power industry, but the conservative government has formed a taskforce to examine the viability of nuclear power in Australia.
The panel recently returned from a world-wide inspection tour of nuclear enrichment, power and waste storage facilities, including visits to Chernobyl in Ukraine and the site of the Three Mile Island accident in the United States.
Downer said nuclear energy would have benefits in the form of lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower atmospheric pollutants.
"We shouldn't be excluding nuclear power on the basis of phony proliferation and environmental arguments," he said.