United States, United Kingdom and Australia announced this week the development of new nuclear-powered submarines within the framework of Aukus, a pact that raises controversy due to the tension it generates with China, the precedent it creates in the fight for the non-proliferation of atomic weapons and its environmental impact.
The US President, Joe Biden, and the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia, Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese, revealed last Monday in San Diego (California) the first concrete advance of the agreement signing in 2021 and that it will increase the influence of the West in the security of the Indo-Pacific region.
The allies announced that Australia will acquire up to three Virginia-class nuclear submarines from the US during the 2030s, with the possibility of buying two more, before producing a new generation together with the United Kingdom that will be named “SSN-Aukus”.
This relaunch, which makes Australia the seventh nation in the world with nuclear submersibles, was criticized by China for arguing that it will encourage “confrontation” in Asia, as well as pacifist and environmental groups that warn of the dangers of this type of technology, which for the first time will be in the hands of a country that does not have nuclear weapons.
Aukus, a military agreement that is “not a NATO” of the Pacific
Aukus (acronym of the English acronym of the participating countries) was announced in September 2021 and at its birth caused a diplomatic crisis with France, which saw a contract between the local firm Naval and Australia canceled for the development of conventional submarines.
“It is a technical agreement to share technology”, told Télam John Blaxland, Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies at the Australian National University and, in that sense, he clarified that “it is not a NATO” of the Pacific.
“There is no command or headquarters”, he differentiated and defended the pact: “Australia has huge maritime areas and current submarines are obsolete to operate stealthily, since to make long distances they have to go to the surface to recharge batteries and that It means they are going to be detected.”
“We need submarines for our defense and the only ones that will work for Australia now are nuclear powered ones, which can stay underwater for long periods and remain undetected,” he said.
The academic, who was an officer in the Australian Army, indicated that the agreement also benefits the United Kingdom, which “needs new commercial partners” after leaving the European Union and “seeks to maintain the special relationship” with the United States, while the White House obtains “allied submarines” in the Pacific to counter China’s weight in the region.
China, against the “dangerous” alliance
In its first reaction to the relaunch of Aukus, China warned that the three countries “are traveling on a wrong and dangerous path, thinking of their own interests and belittling the concern of the international community,” according to the statement. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
During the act in San Diego, none of the three leaders mentioned the Asian giant, although Biden affirmed that the agreement would ensure that the Asia-Pacific zone “remains free and open”, a formula that points to the desire to counteract the influence of Beijing. in the region, mainly due to the militarization in the South China Sea and the tension with Taiwan.
“Aukus brings Australia much closer to the US military orbit and its escalating cold war with China. The pact and these submarines pose many dangers to Australia and the region, and the entire project should be abandoned, ”he said in a statement to Télam. Kate Hudson, Secretary General of the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
In tune, different Australian organizations that oppose the alliance held protests this week in cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and the capital Canberra, complaining about the increase in militarization and the cost of the plan, some 368,000 million Australian dollars (245,198 million US dollars).
“Aukus and nuclear submarines are not for Australia’s self-defence, but to protect US economic dominance in the region. It is an aggressive war alliance that will only fuel tensions, provoking a disastrous war led by the United States against China”, they indicated in one of their pamphlets.
Rather, Blaxland asserted that Aukus “is a direct result of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, his behavior in the South China Sea and South Pacific, and the exponential expansion of his military capabilities in recent years.” ”.
In this context, he stressed that the military agreement has the support of the two main political groups of the oceanic country: the Liberal Party (center-right) that signed the pact in 2021, when it governed, like Labor (center-left), currently in power.
Doubts about nuclear safeguards
The Australian Government assured that the acquisition of these new submarines does not contravene international treaties against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially the obligations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In this sense, he stressed that he is “working closely” with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN agency directed by the Argentine Rafael Grossi and who will have the challenge of controlling that the enriched material used as propulsion of the ships is not diverted to build a weapon, while respecting the confidentiality of military operations.
From a position against the use of nuclear submersibles, Hudson listed the “serious problems” posed by this military technology: “First, there is the risk to human and environmental safety posed by having a nuclear reactor aboard a submarine traveling all over the world. Potential accidents could have catastrophic repercussions.”
“There is also the problem of what to do with the reactor and the submarine when they are decommissioned. Some of them will be highly radioactive,” he said.
“The second problem is the risk of nuclear proliferation posed by the transfer of nuclear technology and material to a non-nuclear weapon state,” he added, referring to the unprecedented assistance Australia will receive from Washington and London.
“This is illegal under the NPT. The nuclear reactors that power the US and UK nuclear-powered submarines use highly enriched uranium, that is, weapons-grade uranium. Therefore, there is great international concern about the risks of proliferation,” said the activist.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, there is actually a legal loophole in the NPT that will allow for the first time the transfer of fissile material and nuclear technology for uses considered non-military, such as naval propulsion, from a State that possesses nuclear weapons to one that does not have them, without the need for international controls.
Despite these concerns, Blaxland assured that “Australia will be subject to the provisions of the IAEA”.
“That’s one of the advantages of being a Western liberal democracy: we have checks and balances in our system and a good degree of transparency, particularly with the IAEA, because their trust is paramount to us,” he said.
“China will continue to protest, saying that we are not violating it, but that accusation will be baseless. It will be a purely malicious attempt to interfere with our legitimate defense interest.he exclaimed.
