Nuclear power in Australia

Australia currently has no nuclear facilities generating electricity. Australia has 33% of the world's uranium deposits and is the world's third largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan and Canada.

At the same time, Australia's extensive low-cost coal and natural gas reserves have historically been used as strong arguments for avoiding nuclear power. The Liberal Party has advocated for the development of nuclear power and nuclear industries in Australia since the 1950s. An anti-nuclear movement developed in Australia in the 1970s, initially focusing on the banning of 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 .

A modern 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 impact of climate change. In 2015, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill announced that a Royal Commission would be held to investigate the state's role in the nuclear fuel cycle. South Australia is currently home to four of Australia's five uranium mines and the possibility of the state developing nuclear power generation, enrichment and waste storage facilities have previously proven to be contentious issues. The Royal Commission comes at a time of economic contraction for South Australia, which is suffering from job losses in mining and manufacturing sectors.

In 1952, South Australian Premier Thomas 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.

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.

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