Penny Wong makes AUKUS safety vow to world’s nuclear watchdog

The head of the world’s nuclear watchdog has delivered an ominous warning to Australia over problems in getting nuclear subs up to scratch.

Australia is facing a long road of “painstaking” technical work to ensure the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal meets rigorous global standards, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog says.

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will meet with key federal government officials in Canberra on Tuesday to scrutinise plans to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.

In Adelaide on Monday, Mr Grossi met with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, who assured him the submarine plan would meet “the highest possible non-proliferation standards”.

Mr Grossi said there was a long road ahead to approving Australia’s unprecedented submarine plan.

“At the technical level, we have a lot of work to do, we have to roll up our sleeves and do it,” Mr Grossi told the ABC.

“One has to make sure that the system is well-designed, it’s quite a complex technical, legal, exercise and as you were saying, people will be looking at this because it will be precedent-setting,” he said.

Mr Grossi said it would be challenging to monitor nuclear material on board Australian submarines while deployed at sea for months at a time.

Penny Wong meets with IAEA director Rafael Grossi in Adelaide.

Rafael Grossi and Penny Wong in Adelaide.

Defence experts warned Australia must set the global benchmark for nuclear safety to temper the military aspirations of rogue nations like Iran.

Australia is set to become the first non-nuclear weapons nation to acquire nuke-powered subs, propelled with highly enriched uranium.

It will test for the first time a legal grey area in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which exempts the uranium type used for “non-peaceful” purposes from certain IAEA safeguards, as long as it is not used to make weapons.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Marcus Hellyer warned the AUKUS plan could embolden fellow non-nuclear weapons states like Iran to follow a similar path.

“We are setting a precedent – so if another state decides to go down this path, such as Iran, you want to have set the bar extremely high in terms of safeguards,” Dr Hellyer said.

The US will need to be satisfied any IAEA regulations won’t expose its top secret nuclear technology, which it is sharing with Australia.

While the US will provide Australia with a pre-build nuclear reactor, Dr Hellyer said there would still need to be a “very large” local nuclear industry with people trained in safety regulation and working with reactors.

Australian Industry Defence Network chief executive Brent Clark said nuclear skills needed to be developed immediately.

“There’s obviously going to be a requirement for universities to bring on more nuclear-type courses and increase place numbers,” he said.

“There’s absolutely no reason at all why Australians can’t be sent to the US or the UK. That’s where all the training will be,” Mr Clark said.

Australian Industry Defence Network boss Brent Clark.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency has launched a recruitment drive for highly skilled officers to prepare for the submarine program.

Senator Wong said she and Mr Grossi directly addressed “nuclear proliferation challenges in Iran and North Korea”.

She also vowed Australia would work “transparently” to ensure AUKUS “sets the highest possible non-proliferation standards”.

“The work of the IAEA to contribute to global peace and security has never been more important, or more urgent,” Senator Wong said on Monday.

“I reiterated Australia’s total commitment to our obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.”

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