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Australia & China pen uranium deal

John Howard - Uranium deal
John Howard - Uranium deal

Australia has signed a deal with China which will allow Beijing to import Australian uranium for power stations.

The nuclear agreement was signed after a meeting between the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, in Canberra.

The two countries had previously failed to agree a deal amid concerns China would use the uranium in its nuclear weapons programme.

Under the terms of the deal, Australia, which has 40% of the world's known uranium deposits, will export 20,000 metric tons of uranium to China each year, beginning in 2010.