Pulling our weight: Nuclear in Australia should be a national triumph, not political fear tactic

More anti-nuclear sentiment has bubbled to the surface in Australia as Parliament tabled the agreed legal framework for transferring nuclear materials and equipment under the AUKUS trilateral defence pact with the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Under the agreement, signed by all three partner countries in Washington last week, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines among other critical defence technology for $368 billion dollars.

This new development is being closely followed by the most predictable and inane rusted-on no-nuclear criticism against Australia’s obligation to be responsible for the storage and disposal of its own spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste used in the nuclear power units that are transferred under AUKUS.

UK and US defence officials must now be wondering what an insane country they have allied with and militarily linked themselves to.

It’s beyond belief that such a common sense and essential obligation is being disputed. If you want to have nuclear submarines, you must be prepared to store the nuclear material and waste they utilise or produce.

Critics, such as the Australian Greens, have touted fear-mongering claims that Australia would become a dumping ground for radioactive waste produced by the US and the UK. An unsurprising allegation considering their devote opposition to nuclear energy, a campaign stifling decades of debate on the key international technology and industry.

“Reports that the Albanese government have signed a secret AUKUS deal with the US are deeply concerning. The Albanese government wants to legalise dumping nuclear waste from the US and the UK here in Australia,” Greens senator for SA, spokesperson for environment Sarah Hanson-Young said.

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“Labor need to come clean and guarantee that South Australia will not become a nuclear waste dumping ground for the US and the UK.

“South Australia has long been the target for a dangerous nuclear waste dump and Labor need to clearly rule it out before the election.

“Between Labor’s nuclear subs and Peter Dutton’s nuclear power obsession, the Greens remain the only party in South Australia fighting to protect our nuclear-free state.”

Australia will manage all radioactive waste generated by its own Virginia Class and SSN-AUKUS submarines, including radioactive waste generated through operations, maintenance and decommissioning, according to the Australian Submarine Agency.

All waste, including spent fuel, will be managed safely, informed by international best practice and in accordance with Australia’s international and domestic legal obligations and commitments.

Australia will continue to leverage decades of experience in safely and securely managing radioactive waste and will be supported by the UK and the US, whose experience and advice will support Australia in building this capability – ASA said.

“There is no prospect of any nuclear waste coming to Australia from the US or the UK. We will be handling our own nuclear waste, which is what we announced in March of last year,” Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles said, speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier this week.

“What we signed earlier this week was the legal underpinning, a treaty-level agreement, which underpins the AUKUS arrangements that we announced in March of last year.

“What that will see is the three Virginia Class submarines be provided by the United States to Australia, which obviously will include within them the nuclear reactor.

“We’ll see the nuclear reactor that are built by Rolls-Royce come to Australia to form part of the submarines that we build in Australia.

“It reaffirms that we will, in this process, meet our international obligations in terms of non-proliferation and also in respect of the Rarotonga treaty. So this is the legal foundational underpinning of the agreement that we reached in March of last year. And in that sense it’s a very significant step forward on the AUKUS journey.”

Australia currently produces a relatively small amount of low-level radioactive waste and lesser volume of intermediate-level waste, according to information from the World Nuclear Organisation (WNO).

Each year, Australia produces about 45 cubic metres of radioactive waste, according to the WNO. In addition, the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency was set up to manage all radioactive waste in 2020 and there is ongoing consideration for national radioactive waste repository storage.

“We’ve agreed to have nuclear-powered submarines, that’s what we’ve agreed to. And the transfer of technology that’s related to that, that we’ll have access to it as we announced,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, speaking to a press conference in Perth on 9 August.

“There’ll be no nuclear transfer (of waste) from either the US or the UK. That’s the detail. That’s very clear. And that’s not part of the arrangement. Nuclear submarines have nuclear reactors in them, that’s the detail there as well.

“We work with our allies in the United States and the United Kingdom, and these arrangements are very clear.

“We’re very pleased that AUKUS, both Pillar I and Pillar II, has been agreed. It’s something that we have worked very carefully and closely on the detail.”

Final thoughts

The debate over Australia storing the nuclear material and waste produced by the nuclear submarines we receive is ridiculous and overblown. It’s part of the AUKUS deal, we have the space, it’s common-sense and it’s not a significant issue to be faced with.

This is in reality a golden opportunity that Australia has been gifted to better understand not only nuclear propulsion in submarines, but research, and comprehend nuclear energy, nuclear waste (yes that too) and countless other modern applications.

We already operate three uranium mines in this country and we are now at last on the path to a nuclear-powered navy. Nuclear research and technology should be a national triumph, not a fear tactic wielded for political gain at the cost of countrywide technological progress.

Get involved with the discussion and let us know your thoughts on Australia’s future role and position in the Indo-Pacific region and what you would like to see from Australia’s political leaders in terms of partisan and bipartisan agenda setting in the comments section below, or get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..