IAEA chief says AUKUS deal could spark race for nuclear subs, task force will investigate safeguards & legality — RT World News

Rafael Grossi (Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency) spoke to Washington about a special team. “very experienced safeguards inspectors and legal experts”We will examine the legal and safety implications of last month’s controversial agreement.

AUKUS will see the UK and USA assist Australia in building a fleet nuclear-powered subs. According to reports, the pact will focus also on undersea and cyber technologies. The pact has been viewed as an effort to counter China – which has criticized the move as “seriously [undermining]Peace and stability in the region [intensifying] the arms race”

Grossi claimed that “specific agreements”The IAEA was required to make sure that Australia receives the technology and materials it needs. “under safeguards” – but the exact procedures through which the agency could now make sure that the fuel is not diverted to manufacturing nuclear weapons still remain unclear.

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The deal is also reportedly the first time a non-nuclear country has acquired nuclear-powered submarines – taking advantage of an apparent “rare exception”In the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Australia is part of the NPT. This treaty recognizes five states with nuclear weapons, the USA, Russia, China and France. India, though it is not a party to the NPT has its own nuclear submarines.

Grossi stated to Reuters last month that the entire process would take place. “a very complex, technical negotiation”With the AUKUS members to make sure there is “no weakening of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.” 

Grossi stated again Tuesday that it would be an a “very, very demanding process”That the agency was required to “dot the Is and cross the Ts” regarding the deal – something, he said, that “has never been done before”It was. He claimed that Antony Blinken was the US Secretary Of State “fully aware of the [proliferation] implications”We noted, however, that the following: “formal engagement”It is to be expected “soon”

Grossi stated, however, the possibility “cannot be excluded”The AUKUS experience could be used by other countries to build their own nuclear submarine fleets. The Guardian reports that Canada and South Korea both explored the possibility of building submarines powered by nuclear fuel. They are more quiet and capable of carrying out underwater operations for longer periods than other vessels. According to the paper, Brazil has a nuclear submarine program.

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New AUKUS anti-China alliance could spark global arms race, Moscow warns, as Beijing sounds alarm over West’s ‘Cold War’ tactics

In 2018, Grossi said, the Iranian government had informed the IAEA of its intention to start a naval nuclear propulsion program – noting in a letter to the agency that no nuclear facility would be involved for the first five years of the project. Over meetings during the UN General Assembly in New York last month, Iranian officials reportedly cited the AUKUS deal as a precedent to take the country’s submarine plans going forward.

Moscow joined Beijing to condemn the AUKUS Pact last week. Moscow stated that China’s move was placing the West on an collision course with China. This could result in sharp international tensions rising.

Nikolay Nozdrev (director of Third Asia Department in the Russian Foreign Ministry) told RIA Novosti that the partnership had brought about significant results “serious concerns”About the “tangible risks of unleashing an arms race… and the continued effectiveness of the nuclear non-proliferation regime”

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