[ad_1]
Defense Correspondent Andrew Green
in short:
(ABC – Australia) The revised AUKUS agreement has been tabled in federal parliament, which states the submarine project could be cancelled within a year.
Under the deal, Australia also agreed to compensate the United States and the United Kingdom for any loss or damage caused by the storage and disposal of nuclear waste.
What’s next?
The agreement will last until December 2075 as long as the Australia, New Zealand and United States alliance continues and the United States and the United Kingdom remain in NATO.
Under the revised AUKUS agreement, Australia will cover the costs of any loss or damage caused by the disposal and storage of radioactive waste by nuclear submarines.
The latest documents from the trilateral partnership show Australia will compensate the United States and Britain to avoid such an outcome.
The report also suggests that the United States or Britain could withdraw from the submarine agreement with just one year’s notice if they felt the agreement undermined their own nuclear submarine programs.
Last week, details of the “Memorandum of Understanding” signed by the three AUKUS partners in Washington were submitted to the Federal Parliament, and the agreement “is valid until December 31, 2075”.
The first states that the United States and the United Kingdom can transfer “material and equipment related to conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines” to Australia, provided that this does not pose an “unreasonable risk” to their own defense and security.
“This is a $368 billion gamble by the Albanese government with taxpayers’ money,” Greens senator David Shoebridge said after the documents were handed down on Monday.
“Article one of the new AUKUS agreement provides that if at any time the United States believes that supplying Australia under the AUKUS agreement would undermine its defence, they can effectively terminate the agreement and withdraw.
“The agreement is clear in black and white: if at any time the US decides they don’t have enough submarines, they can withdraw from AUKUS 2.0 – why is the Albanese government not being honest about the scale of this gamble?”
According to the document, “Australia shall be responsible for the management, disposal, storage and treatment of any spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste generated by the operation of naval nuclear propulsion plants”.
The Albanian government also agreed to indemnify the United States and the United Kingdom for “any liabilities, losses, expenses, damages or injuries (including third-party claims) arising out of, related to or resulting from nuclear risks” of the project.
The Naval Nuclear Cooperation agreement is also contingent on Australia and the United States remaining in the ANZUS security alliance, and the United States and the United Kingdom remaining members of NATO.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the agreement “explicitly excludes uranium enrichment or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel in Australia” and prohibits AUKUS partners from engaging in any activities that would violate international non-proliferation obligations.
“The Albanese Government, along with its AUKUS partners, continues to reiterate that Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines will set the highest standards of non-proliferation through the AUKUS partnership.
“The agreement clearly states that, as a non-nuclear weapon state, Australia does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons,” Marrs stressed.
President Joe Biden revealed the existence of a new deal last week in a letter to Congress, in which he said the non-legally binding “understanding” provided “additional and relevant political commitment.”
Related
[ad_2]
Source link
