Nuclear safety treaty signed

China has signed an agreement with Australia confirming that any uranium it imports will be used for nuclear power plants rather than nuclear weapons, the Wall Street Journal reported. The signing ceremony of the bilateral nuclear-safeguards treaty was attended by Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who is touring Australia. Beijing wants to build at least 30 nuclear reactors by 2020 as part of plans to boost nuclear energy, and so it is looking for uranium supplies with which to fuel the power plants. There is no shortage of foreign firms offering to build the nuclear facilities with Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric and Areva SA of France both among the competitors for contracts. Australia accounted for 20% of the world's uranium output in 2005 although significant exports to China are unlikely to start until 2008.