"I think the two countries can work together in partnership to ensure that the (US) initiative does not work in a way that in any way affects our own interests or the legitimate exploitation of our uranium reserves," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters in Ottawa at the close of a two-day official visit that included talks on trade, security and climate change.

Canada and Australia have a combined 43 percent of the world's uranium reserves and 52 percent of the world's uranium production.

The White House in February unveiled a strategy to promote nuclear energy worldwide as a means of reducing air pollution and US reliance on foreign oil imports.

The so-called Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) also includes a plan to keep nuclear materials "out of the hands of terrorists" or "rogue states" and encourage nuclear non-proliferation, a US department of energy official told AFP.

"The United States would work with nations to develop a fuel services program, so it would give them nuclear fuel to use for energy and in turn, they would refrain from developing enrichment and recycling technologies," she said.

The United States has held "initial dicussions" with Japan, Britain, France and Russia to support the plan, the US official said.

Howard, who met with US President George W. Bush in Washington earlier this week, planned to keep "an open mind" about whether Australia should process uranium to provide nuclear fuel to other nations, he said.

"We don't approach this American-inspired proposal with antagonism. We approach it with interest," he said.

Under the proposal, the United States would also build more nuclear power plants and better storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, and seek to beef up nuclear non-proliferation treaties.

Harper noted: "We have agreed that we are going to collaborate very closely together to make sure that Australian and Canadian interests are closely protected while the Americans and others discuss the future of the industry."

The two conservative leaders of Commonwealth countries also agreed to closer security ties, and Harper said Canada may opt to join the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP), a non-binding alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, much to the horror of environmentalists.

"I know that the Australians and others are looking at really focusing on dealing with this through the application of technology and technological development. This is very much the path our government is looking at," Harper said.

Australia did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming, but Howard indicated it would still meets its emissions reduction targets under the protocol.

Harper has said repeatedly since his Conservative government swept to office in January it would be "impossible" for his country to meet its emissions reduction targets.

Canada's emissions are now 35 percent above its 1990 base levels. Its protocol target is six percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Greenpeace this week called the six-country APP "a fraud" because it relies only on voluntary measures and contains no targets, timetables or financial mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

But, Howard dismissed naysayers as too "ideological".

Australia is a key APP member, along with the United States, Japan, India, China and South Korea.

Both Harper and Howard complained that China, India and the United States, the world's biggest polluters, were not part of Kyoto Protocol or had no emissions reduction targets under the accord.

"If we are serious about climate change, and controlling the greenhouse gases we clearly have to have an international regime that includes the largest emitters," Harper said.

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