Mr Downer says there is no danger of the uranium exports being used to support Russia’s military programs.
"In the same way as we have nuclear safeguard agreements with other countries it would be a breach of international law if they were to try to do that," he said.
"I don’t [think] Russia would want to become a rogue state and break international law, it would lead to a collapse with their relations with Australia and probably with an awful lot more countries."
The Opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman Robert McClelland says Labor is open to the idea of the uranium deal with Russia.
"Because they’re a party to the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)" he said.
"What I’m saying is, we can drive their commitment to do most things and specifically we can drive their commitment to disarmament.
"The broader issues here is how the international community, and we as one of the world’s major uranium suppliers, start to reinvigorate the nuclear disarmament debate."