Revelations of two major radioactive leaks endangering workers at an Indian nuclear power station strengthens the case against selling uranium to India, the Australian Greens said today.

Indian press outlets are reporting that an IAEA team has arrived in India to assess the scale of the leaks at the Rawatbhata nuclear complex in Rajasthan. Greens nuclear policy spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the mass radiation exposures of plant workers showed the human side of the Indian Auditor General's damning assessment of the state of the industry.

Australian documentary maker David Bradbury was detained by police late yesterday in Tamil Nadu while investigating the Indian nuclear industry.

Greens nuclear policy spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the arrest was only the latest in a series of moves to suppress criticism of India's notorious nuclear sector.

"The Prime Minister should put human rights and safety before uranium profits during her current visit to India," said Australian Greens spokesperson on nuclear issues, Senator Scott Ludlam, today.

"This visit will no doubt be spun as a triumph for the uranium industry, a deal is a long way from reality. Australia and India are months away from a formal agreement, and the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties should be expected to conduct an exhaustive inquiry into any agreement that emerges.

The Australian Greens today urged the Prime Minister to put human rights and safety before uranium profits during her impending visit to India.

"While Prime Minister Gillard is expected to begin negotiating a framework for uranium exports to India, the democratic rights of tens of thousands of Indian anti-nuclear protestors are being steamrolled by police repression," said Greens nuclear policy spokesperson Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam.

The Australian Greens will mark the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe by calling on whistleblowers to lift the lid on Australia's own nuclear industry.

Greens spokesperson on nuclear policy Senator Scott Ludlam said the impact of the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 continued to be felt to this day. Senator Ludlam today released a research paper on the situation at Chernobyl today and its ongoing costs:

http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/chernobyl

(Question No. 1566)
Senator Ludlam asked the minister representing the Minister for Resources and Energy, upon notice, on 27 February 2012:
(1) Has the department provided advice to the Minister, the Ministers office or the New South Wales Government or its agencies regarding uranium deposits or the development of the uranium sector in that state; if so:
(a) to whom and when was the advice provided; and
(b) can this advice be supplied.
(2) What is the current status of Australia's involvement in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) initiative.

The anti-nuclear movement in India is facing severe police repression and needs support, the Australian Greens said today.

Senator Scott Ludlam said disturbing reports from Tamil Nadu showed authorities would stop at nothing to break the protests against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant.

"For more than seven months the people of the Koodankulam area have been fighting to defend themselves and their land from an out of control nuclear industry. Now the state is trying to smash their movement.”

The Labor Party's backflip on the sale of uranium to India is "a shocking abandonment of the campaign for nuclear disarmament", the Australian Greens said today. Nuclear issues spokesperson Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said the sale of uranium to India while that country is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is opposed by many Indian people and almost certainly illegal.