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Australia, which holds 40 per cent of the world's recoverable uranium, should drop restrictions on uranium mining, say federal lawmakers.
They insisted yesterday that fears about the safety of the nuclear fuel were misplaced.
MPs from both major political parties, including Labor politicians who had previously opposed such a move, said Australia should drop barriers to "greenhouse friendly" uranium fuel.
"All members are agreed that present restrictions on uranium exploration and mining are illogical, inconsistent and anti-competitive," industry and resources committee chairman Geoff Prosser said in a statement.
The committee called for the lifting of Australia's three-mine limit, warning that billions of dollars worth of exports to lucrative new markets such as India and China were at risk.
Australia signed a uranium export deal with China in April after receiving non-proliferation guarantees, but has so far refused to supply India.
"As a matter of justice Australia should not deny countries that wish to use nuclear power in a responsible manner," Prosser said.
Despite its huge reserves, Australia has only 23 per cent of global uranium production, partly because of mining bans associated with fears over nuclear waste safety and proliferation.
Conservative Prime Minister John Howard in June opened a debate on nuclear energy and uranium mining, setting up an inquiry to find out if a domestic nuclear industry was viable.
The inquiry also looked into whether nuclear power would be a clean alternative to the coal-fired power generation on which Australia relies, concluding that a domestic nuclear power industry could be a reality in Australia within 15 years.
The new report - the third in the past month - said Australian uranium reserves could displace 40 billion tonnes of greenhouse-causing carbon dioxide if used to replace coal-fired power generation.
- REUTERS
