Nuclear power in Australia has been a topic of practical debate since the mid-20th century. Australia has never had a nuclear power plant, and has only one nuclear reactor (OPAL), the third in a series at Lucas Heights, New South Wales, which have been used exclusively for research, training, and to produce radionuclides for both nuclear medicine and industry. Australia hosts 33% of the world's proven uranium deposits, and is currently the world's third largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan and Canada.
Australia's extensive low-cost coal and natural gas reserves have historically been used as strong arguments for avoiding nuclear power.Australia report gives nuclear nod BBC News 22 November 2006 The Liberal Party has advocated for the development of nuclear power and nuclear industries in Australia since the 1950s. The Gorton government began work to construct the Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant in the late 1960s with a design specified to optimise production of plutonium for a secret federal government optional plan to produce nuclear weapons; after protests and boycotts, construction was abandoned following John Gorton's replacement as prime minister in 1971. An anti-nuclear movement developed in Australia in the 1970s, initially focusing on prohibiting nuclear weapons testing and limiting the development of uranium mining and export. The movement also challenged the environmental and economic costs of developing nuclear power and the possibility of fissile material being diverted into nuclear weapons production.
A resurgence of interest in nuclear power was prompted by Prime Minister John Howard in 2007 in response to the need to move to low-carbon methods of power generation in order to reduce the effects of global warming on Australia. In 2015, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill initiated a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission to investigate the state's future role in the nuclear fuel cycle. there are three active uranium mines, Ranger in Northern Territory, Olympic Dam in South Australia, and Beverley with Four Mile in South Australia. The Royal Commission determined that there was no case for the introduction of nuclear power to the electricity grid in South Australia, but it did not consider its potential interstate. In its final report of May 2016, the Royal Commission recommended that prohibitions preventing the development of nuclear power plants nationally should be repealed.
In 2017, former prime minister Tony Abbott advocated for legislation to be changed to allow the construction of nuclear power plants in Australia. The former Deputy Premier of New South Wales, John Barilaro, has also been urging for debate on the prospect of nuclear power in Australia, including the revisiting of Jervis Bay as a prospective site for a nuclear power plant. In November 2017, Senator Cory Bernardi presented the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (Facilitation) Bill 2017 in the Senate, with the intention of repealing existing prohibitions preventing the establishment of nuclear power in Australia.
Since 2021, there has been a groundswell of community support for the inclusion of nuclear energy in Australia's energy mix. The reasons often cited are concern about climate change, energy security, electricity prices, and environmental and community impacts of large scale renewable and transmission projects. Polling shows a majority of Australians now support nuclear energy. Nuclear for Australia and WePlanet Australia are the most prominent organisations associated with this change in community support.
Historic and present nuclear reactors in Australia In total, three nuclear reactors have been built and operated in Australia over the course of history. All have been located at ANSTO (formerly AAEC) headquarter site at Lucas Heights, New South Wales, and all have been research reactors that were not used for power (electric or thermal) generation. The first Australian nuclear reactor was the HIFAR reactor, which was operational 1958–2007, and the second Australian nuclear reactor was the MOATA reactor, which was operational 1961-1995 and became the first Australian reactor to be fully decommissioned in 2009, and the third Australian nuclear reactor is the OPAL reactor, which has been operational 2006–present. No other working (achieved criticality) nuclear reactors have existed in Australia, as of 2025.
Unsuccessful nuclear power station concepts and proposals 1952 Upper Spencer Gulf, South Australia In 1952, South Australian Premier Tom Playford expressed with confidence that the first location for a nuclear power station in Australia would be on the shores of Spencer Gulf. In July of that year, it was announced more specifically that Backy Bay (later renamed Fitzgerald Bay), located between Whyalla and Port Augusta would be the site. The station was never constructed, though the region reemerged again in 2007 as a prospect for a nuclear power station during the Federal leadership of Prime Minister John Howard.
1969 Jervis Bay, New South Wales
In 1969, a 500 MW nuclear power station was proposed for the Jervis Bay Territory, 200 km south of Sydney. A local opposition campaign began, and the South Coast Trades and Labour Council (covering workers in the region) announced that it would refuse to build the reactor. Some environmental studies and site works were completed, and two rounds of tenders were called and evaluated, but in 1971 the Australian government decided not to proceed with the project, citing economic reasons.
1979 Perth, Western Australia In 1977–78, the Western Australian Government, under the leadership of Charles Court, announced plans for a nuclear power reactor near Perth. 1977 was seen as the year of mass mobilisation in WA, with 300 at the first anti-nuclear demonstration to 9,000 at the third protest in the inner city of Perth. Despite public protest, the WA Government selected a first site for a nuclear reactor in 1979 at Wilbinga, 70 kilometres north of Perth. Court predicted that at least another 20 nuclear power stations would be needed by the end of the century to meet rapidly growing power demand, but none of this came to pass.Martin, Brian (Summer 1982). The Australian anti-uranium movement Alternatives: Perspectives on Society and Environment, Volume 10, Number 4, pp. 26–35. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
1980s and 2007 Portland, Victoria In 2007 it was reported that businessman Ron Walker, director of the company Australian Nuclear Energy had considered Portland as a possible location for a future nuclear power station. Glenelg Mayor Gilbert Wilson said that he thought it was unlikely that such a project would receive community support. He added that he believed any community in Victoria would oppose it, were it to be located in their area. A concept to develop a 2,400 MW nuclear power station at Portland at a cost of $3 billion was previously raised and abandoned in the early 1980s. In 1983, nuclear power development became prohibited under the Nuclear Activities (Prohibitions) Act 1983 in the state of Victoria and the law remains in place in 2020. Section 8 of the Act also prohibits uranium milling, enriching, fuel production, fuel reprocessing and waste storage.
2007 Upper Spencer Gulf, South Australia While a nuclear power station in South Australia's Upper Spencer Gulf region was discussed intermittently from 2007, no formal proposal to construct a plant was ever made.
In 2007, The Australian newspaper revealed that a location near Port Augusta in the Upper Spencer Gulf region of South Australia was being considered for a future nuclear power station. A company called Australian Nuclear Energy had been registered on 1 June 2006 with three prominent Australian businessmen as major shareholders: Robert Champion de Crespigny (former Chancellor of the University of Adelaide), Ron Walker (former Lord Mayor of Melbourne) and Hugh Morgan (former director of Western Mining Corporation). Prime Minister John Howard supported the formation of the company, describing it as a "great idea".
Five days after the company was registered, the Federal Government established the Switkowski review into nuclear energy. The company examined the viability of building a 20-50 megawatt pilot station in the Upper Spencer Gulf area, at a cost of $70 million-$150 million, and had spoken to American company GE about supplying a nuclear reactor.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann responded to news of the investigation by saying:
On 7 April 2011, former Australian politician Alexander Downer addressed the students of UCL's Adelaide campus, discussing nuclear power. A long term advocate for nuclear power, he told The Australian that the South Australian town of Whyalla (also on Upper Spencer Gulf) would be ideal for a nuclear power station to serve the interests of BHP, South Australia and the eastern states. He stated:
The Olympic Dam project was expected to use about 400 MWh of electricity per day if the proposed mine expansion went ahead. In 2011, the Olympic Dam mine expansion received State and Federal environmental approval, but in 2012, the BHP board decided not to proceed with the mine expansion as planned citing weakened economic conditions as the reason.
In 2012 a first-of-a-kind study was undertaken in which a combination of solar and wind technology, proposed as a replacement for the ageing Northern coal power station, was comprehensively compared with a reference nuclear reactor. Assuming equal public confidence and an established regulatory framework, the nuclear energy option compared favourably on cost, reliability, commercial availability, plant lifetime and greenhouse gas abatement, among other criteria.[ThinkClimate Consulting, Brown&Pang (https://web.archive.org/web/20140127024152/http://www.zerocarbonoptions.com/wp-content/themes/idweb/pdf/Zero-Carbon-Options-Final-Report.pdf) Zero Carbon Options Final Report]
Nuclear-powered submarines
In April 2016, Australia committed to purchasing French-designed Barracuda-class attack submarines with customised diesel propulsion systems, despite the existing French fleet being wholly nuclear-powered. On 15 September 2021, following the signing of a security partnership named AUKUS between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, it was announced that Australia would develop nuclear-powered submarines, using US and British technology. This sparked outrage in France which lost the contract for what was to become the most expensive defence acquisition in Australia's history. France withdrew their ambassadors in the US and Australia in protest of the deal. The surprise termination of the agreement by Australia under the Morrison government was settled with a payment of €555 million from Australia to France. Anthony Albanese stated that the failed agreement would cost Australia 3.4 billion dollars with "almost nothing to show for it".
Nuclear power politics
2000s As uranium prices began rising from about 2003 onwards, proponents of nuclear power advocated it as a solution to global warming and the Australian Government began taking an interest. In late 2006 and early 2007, the Prime Minister, John Howard, made widely reported statements in favour of nuclear power, on environmental grounds.Martin, Brian. Opposing nuclear power: past and present Social Alternatives, Vol. 26, No. 2, Second Quarter 2007, pp. 43–47. Retrieved 12 January 2008. Faced with these proposals to examine nuclear power as a possible response to climate change, anti-nuclear campaigners and scientists in Australia claimed that nuclear power could not significantly substitute for other power sources, and that uranium mining itself could become a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.Diesendorf, Mark (2007). Paths to a Low-Carbon Future: Reducing Australia’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 (PDF) Green, Jim (2005). Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change (PDF)