Australia and weapons of mass destruction
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{{WMD}}
[[Australia]] is not currently known or believed to possess [[weapons of mass destruction]], although it has participated in extensive research into [[nuclear weapon|nuclear]], [[biological warfare|biological]] and [[chemical warfare|chemical]] weapons in the past. Australia currently chairs the [[Australia Group]], an informal grouping of countries that seek to minimise the risk of assisting chemical and biological weapon proliferation. All states participating in the Australia Group are parties to the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] and the [[Biological Weapons Convention]], and strongly support efforts under those Conventions to rid the world of chemical and biological weapons.<ref name="augroup">{{Cite web|url=http://www.australiagroup.net/en/intro.htm|title=The Australia Group : An Introduction |accessdate=2006-04-18 |publisher=The Australia Group }}</ref> Australia has no commercial nuclear power stations (although it operates a research reactor at [[Lucas Heights]]) and the current federal [[Kevin Rudd|Rudd]] Labor government opposes nuclear power for Australia.<ref>[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20989451-601,00.html Support for N-power falls]</ref><ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/11/24/1195753376406.html Rudd romps to historic win]</ref>
==Biological Weapons==
Australia has advanced research programs in [[immunology]], [[microbiology]] and [[genetic engineering]] that support an industry providing world class vaccines for domestic use and export.<ref name="austrade1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.austrade.gov.au/overseas/layout/0,,0_S3-1_-2_-3_PWB110706898-4_-5_-6_-7_,00.html|title=Biotechnology capability overview |accessdate=2006-04-23|publisher=Austrade}}</ref> It also has an extensive wine industry and produces microorganisms on an industrial scale to support other industries including agriculture, food technology and brewing. The dual use nature of these facilities mean that Australia, like any country with advanced biotechnology industries, could easily produce biological warfare agents.
The Australian Microbial Resources Research Network lists 37 culture collections, many of which hold samples of pathogenic organisms for legitimate research purposes.<ref name="biocult">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.amrin.org/CultureCollections/tabid/410/Default.aspx |title=Culture Collections |accessdate=2006-04-19|publisher=Australian Microbial Resources Research Network}}</ref> In the wake of the Japanese advance through South East Asia during [[World War II]], the secretary of the [[Australian Department of Defence]], F.G. Shedden, wrote to [[Frank Macfarlane Burnet|Macfarlane Burnet]] on [[December 24]] [[1946]] and invited him to attend a meeting of top military officers to discuss biological warfare. In September, 1947, Burnet was invited to join the chemical and biological warfare subcommittee of the New Weapons and Equipment Development Committee and subsequently prepared a secret report titled "''Note on War from a Biological Angle''".<ref name="bio1">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/09/1015365752044.html |title=Burnet's solution: The plan to poison S-E Asia|accessdate=2006-04-18|author=Nicholson, Brendan |date=[[2002-03-10]]|year=2002|publisher=The Age}}</ref> In 1951 the subcommittee recommended that "a panel reporting to the chemical and biological warfare subcommittee should be authorised to report on the offensive potentiality of biological agents likely to be effective against the local food supplies of South-East Asia and Indonesia".<ref name="bio2">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/australia/bw.html|title=Australia: Biological weapons|accessdate=2006-04-18|author=Bromage, David|year=2002|publisher=Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> The activities of the chemical and biological warfare subcommittee were scaled back soon after, as Prime Minister [[Robert Menzies]] was more interested in trying to acquire [[nuclear weapons]].<ref name="bio2" /> Australia signed the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] on [[10 April]] [[1972]] and deposited a certificate of ratification on [[5 October]] [[1977]].<ref name="bioconv">{{Cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1977/23.html|title=Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction |accessdate=2006-04-18|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service}}</ref>
==Chemical Weapons==
[[Image:Gas shell (AWM 028467).jpg|thumb|250px|An observer examining an unexploded 25 pound gas shell following a trial of gas weapons at [[Singleton, New South Wales|Singleton]] in 1943.]]
Australia conducted extensive research into [[chemical weapons]] during [[World War II]]. Although Australia has never produced chemical weapons, it did [[stockpile]] chemical weapons sourced from the [[USA]] and [[United Kingdom|Britain]].<ref name = "chem">{{cite web | author=| year=September 2nd, 2002| title=Australia: Chemical weapons | format= | work=Federation of American Scientists | url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/australia/cw.html| accessdate=2006-06-24}}</ref> Chemical weapons known to have been stockpiled included [[mustard gas]], [[phosgene]], [[lewisite]], [[adamsite]] and [[CN gas]]. Some of the stockpiled weapons in the form of [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]] and [[artillery]] shells, aerial [[bombs]] and bulk agents were sent to [[New Guinea]] for potential use against [[Japan]]ese tunnel complexes.<ref name = "chem">{{cite web | author=| year=September 2nd, 2002| title=Australia: Chemical weapons | format= | work=Federation of American Scientists | url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/australia/cw.html| accessdate=2006-06-24}}</ref> No actual use of the weapons was recorded although there were many trials using 'live' chemical weapons (such as shown in the picture to the right). After World War II, the chemical weapons were disposed of by burning, venting (for phosgene) or by dumping at sea. Some 21,030 tons of chemical weapons were dumped in the seas off Australia near Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. This has been covered in a Defence report by Geoff Plunkett[http://www.hydro.gov.au/n2m/dumping/cwa/cwa.htm]. A complete history of Australia's involvement with chemical weapons - titled ''Chemical Warfare in Australia'' - was published in book form by the Army History Unit (Defence Department) in Mar 2008 [http://www.mustardgas.org/wheretobuy.htm]. Again it is authored by Geoff Plunkett [http://www.mustardgas.org][http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/deadly-chemicals-hidden-in-war-cache/2008/01/19/1200620272396.html][http://bluemountains.yourguide.com.au/articles/1191452.html?src=topstories][http://penrithpress.com.au/article/2008/02/19/3732_news.html].
A stockpile of 1,000 pound phosgene bombs was discovered at [[Embi Airfield]] in 1970 and disposed of by Australian Army personnel, and, up to 1990, drums of mustard gas were still being discovered in the jungle where they had been tested.<ref name = "chem">{{cite web | author=| year=September 2nd, 2002| title=Australia: Chemical weapons | format= | work=Federation of American Scientists | url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/australia/cw.html| accessdate=2006-06-24}}</ref> Another stockpile of chemical weapons was discovered at [[Maxwelton]], [[Queensland]] in 1989.<ref name="bio2" /> Australia signed the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] in January 1993 and ratified it with the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act in 1994.<ref name = "chem">{{cite web | author=| year=September 2nd, 2002| title=Australia: Chemical weapons | format= | work=Federation of American Scientists | url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/australia/cw.html| accessdate=2006-06-24}}</ref>
==Nuclear Weapons==
[[Image:Op hurricane.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Operation Hurricane, a 25kt nuclear test, Monte Bello Islands, Australia]]
Australia does not have nuclear weapons and is not currently thought to be seeking to develop them, although several governments have investigated the idea and may have done some research into the question.<ref name="nukeambitions">
* {{cite book | author=Broinowski, Richard | title=Fact or Fission? | publisher=Scribe Publications | year=2003 | id=ISBN 1-920769-03-x}}</ref> Australia hosted British nuclear testing at [[Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia|Monte Bello Islands]], [[Emu Field]] and [[British nuclear tests at Maralinga|Maralinga]] between 1952 and 1963. Maralinga was developed as a joint facility with a shared funding arrangement.<ref name="nla121">{{Cite web|url=http://www.naa.gov.au/Publications/fact_sheets/FS129.html|title=British nuclear tests at Maralinga |accessdate=2006-05-08|publisher=National Library of Australia|year=2001}}</ref> During the 1950s, Australia participated in the development of the [[Blue Streak missile]], a [[Medium-range ballistic missile]] (MRBM) intended for delivery of a [[nuclear]] [[warhead]]. The Australian [[HIFAR]] nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights, Sydney, operated from 1958 to 2006 and has now been replaced by the [[OPAL]] reactor in 2006. The new reactor is designed to use low-enriched [[uranium]] fuel and an open pool light water system.<ref name="reactor">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/faqs_final_3_06.pdf|title=ANSTO|accessdate=2006-04-18|publisher=Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation}}</ref> Australia has substantial deposits of [[uranium]] which account for 30% of the world's known reserves.<ref name="Ureserves">{{Cite web|url=http://www.uic.com.au/ozuran.htm|title=Australia's Uranium|accessdate=2006-04-19 |publisher=Uranium Information Centre}}</ref> Until March 1996 government policy restricted exploitation of uranium deposits to three established mines. Current policy is to develop the export potential of Australia's uranium industry by allowing mining and export of uranium under strict international agreements designed to prevent nuclear proliferation.<ref name="uranium1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.science.org.au/nova/002/002key.htm|title=Uranium mining-Key text|accessdate=2006-04-19|publisher=Australian Academy of Science}}</ref>
Australia signed the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] on [[1 July]] [[1968]] and ratified the treaty on [[23 January]] [[1973]].<ref name="npt1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1973/3.html|title=Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|accessdate=2006-04-19|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service}}</ref> Sir Philip Baxter first head of the [[Australian Atomic Energy Commission]] (AAEC), now the [[Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation]] (ANSTO) and first [[Vice Chancellor]] of the [[University of New South Wales]] openly advocated [[Australia]] acquiring a weapons grade [[plutonium]] stockpile and thus nuclear weapons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/vol07/71/hym71.pdf|title=Isotopes and Identity: Australia and the Nuclear Weapons Option, 1949-1999|accessdate=2006-06-24|author=Hymans, Jacques E.C. |publisher=Center for Non-Proliferation Studies}}</ref>
During the 1970s and 1980s, ANSTO scientists developed centrifuge enrichment technology, claimed to be comparable with the commercial [[URENCO]] centrifuge technology of the time. Such technology, if deployed on an industrial scale, would have been producing highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The research lost government funding in the mid-1980s.<ref>{{cite news |coauthors=Andrew Fowler and Renata Gombac |title=Uranium enrichment program revived after 20 years |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1951732.htm|format=program transcript |work= [[The 7.30 Report]]|publisher= [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=2007-06-15 |accessdate=2007-07-07}}</ref>
[[Image:RAAF F111.jpg|thumb|250px|An Australian F-111]]
Like virtually every other developed nation and most larger developing nations, Australia has weapons systems which could be used to deliver nuclear weapons to its neighbours, if nuclear weapons were developed. In the 1960s, it purchased [[F-111]] aircraft which were criticised at the time as being too expensive and too limited for the then available conventional weapons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://canberra.usembassy.gov/anzus/1955-1976.html|title=50th Anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty|accessdate=2006-06-24|publisher=United States Australian Embassy}}</ref> Australia currently has 71 [[F/A-18]] strike fighters and 36 [[F-111]] strategic bombers.
The then Prime Minister of Australia, [[John Howard]], began a study in 2006 into the issues surrounding an increase in Australia's uranium usage.<ref name="invest">{{cite web | author=| year=June 6th, 2006| title=Australia in nuclear power review | format= | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/asia-pacific/5051022.stm| accessdate=2006-06-24}}</ref> Amongst the topics of the study will be a domestic uranium enrichment plant for supplying low-enriched fuel for nuclear power reactors, either domestic or foreign. A commercial-scale enrichment plant would also be capable of producing sufficient highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapons program. An Australian company has been actively developing a novel process for [[uranium enrichment]], Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation ([[Silex Process|SILEX]]).<ref name="silex>{{Cite web |url=http://www.silex.com.au/s03_about_silex/s30_1_content.html|accessdate=2006-04-18|title=Silex}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Foreign relations of Australia]]
[[Category:Military of Australia]]
[[Category:Weapons of mass destruction]]