The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog will visit Australia as the agency prepares to scrutinise the federal government's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership.
The ABC has learnt that the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, will travel to Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide next week.
He is expected to hold talks with senior officials in Canberra and meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
The director-general is also scheduled to visit the premises of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney.
Mr Grossi's visit is likely to focus heavily on the regulatory safeguards that Australia will have to put in place to ensure the nuclear submarine program does not pose any nuclear-proliferation or safety risks.
He is also expected to discuss the legal implications of the pact.
'Very complex, technical negotiation'
If Australia succeeds in building nuclear-powered submarines it will become the first non-nuclear-weapons state to do so.
Australia is a signatory to the IAEA Non-Proliferation Treaty, which means it will have to convince the organisation that the transfer of nuclear technology and materials to power the submarines does not breach the agreement.
The treaty does not prohibit the use of nuclear material for nuclear naval propulsion, and the federal government maintains that the AUKUS program does not pose any proliferation risks and will not undermine the treaty.
However, last year Mr Grossi said all three nations would still have to reach a "specific arrangement with the IAEA" in a "very, very demanding process", which will require the agency "to dot the Is and cross the Ts, which has never been done before".
The agency typically closely monitors and supervises nuclear material to ensure it is not diverted into nuclear weapons.
But Mr Grossi said with nuclear submarines a country was "taking material away from inspectors for some time – and we are talking about highly, very highly enriched uranium".
"What this means is that we, with Australia, with the United States and with the United Kingdom, we have to enter into a very complex technical negotiation to see to it that as a result of this there is no weakening of the nuclear non-proliferation regime," he said.
Australia is also facing a stiff diplomatic contest over AUKUS, with China and Russia furiously attacking the nuclear-submarine plans in international organisations and launching multiple interventions to try to convince the IAEA not to approve them.
Earlier this year, the ABC revealed the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade was boosting specialised diplomatic teams in both Canberra and Vienna – where the IAEA is headquartered – in part to push back against a "disinformation" campaign from both Moscow and Beijing.
Australian officials have scoffed at China's criticisms in private, pointing out that Australia's submarines will be conventionally armed, while Beijing is rapidly expanding its fleet of conventional and nuclear-powered submarines, including subs which can launch nuclear missiles.
