Why nuclear power has been banned in Australia for decades

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Nuclear power is shaping up to be a major controversy in the 2025 federal election, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Coalition backing a plan to build seven nuclear reactors right across Australia if they get voted in.

Such reactors are currently prohibited at a national level, meaning that the Coalition would need to repeal national and some state laws to construct their proposed reactors.

Here's the lowdown on the nuclear power bans in Australia.

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Nuclear power as an energy source has been ruled out in Australia since the late 1990s, when Prime Minister John Howard's Coalition government introduced two laws that regulated it.

First, there was an amendment to the National Radiation and Nuclear Safety Act (1998) which prohibited the development of any new nuclear power sites in Australia.

The following year, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 from the Commonwealth introduced new requirements stopping the building or operation of any facilities that made nuclear power, created nuclear fuel, enriched uranium or handled nuclear waste.

When these laws were passed, there was only one site in Lucas Heights, south of Sydney. It's still the site of Australia's only nuclear reactor, which is used for medical and industrial research.

Some state governments have also imposed extra bans on nuclear.

What countries have prohibited the use of nuclear power?

Countries that've banned the construction of new nuclear power plants in Australia include Austria, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Norway and Serbia.

Several other countries have also announced plans to phase out nuclear power, including Belgium, Germany, the Philippines, and Switzerland.

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Why is Australia anti-nuclear?

There was a significant shift in community sentiment towards nuclear power following the devastating Chernobyl disaster in '86.

That change probably led to the introduction of anti-nuclear laws in Australia in '98 and '99, which have stayed the same ever since.

Australian attitudes towards nuclear power are a mixed bag, but most people are split on the issue primarily due to concerns about the financial and environmental implications.

It would be a costly endeavor to establish a nuclear power network in Australia, and although nuclear power is regarded as a "clean" source (in that it doesn't emit carbon), it is not a renewable energy source.

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Is it against the law to construct a nuclear reactor in Australia?

Yes. The National Radiation and Nuclear Safety Act (1998) and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999), plus other state laws, ban building or running nuclear reactors.

Is there support for nuclear power in Australia?

The Coalition is backin' a nuclear future for Australia with its nuclear power proposal, which would see seven nuclear reactors built right across the country.

Aussie Nuclear Alliance, Australia's largest nuclear organisation, has publicly backed the proposed plan.

What is the Turnbull Government minister, Peter Dutton, proposing?

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Coalition are proposing scrapping existing laws blocking nuclear power in Australia so they can build seven new nuclear plants.

"This will make the electricity supply reliable, make it more consistent, cheaper for Aussies and help us electrify the economy while reducing our carbon emissions as we need to," Dutton said.

The fact is we can deliver a plan which is gonna keep the lights on and we've got a plan and a vision for our country which will help grow businesses, not shut them down.

The Coalition says the scheme is 44 per cent cheaper than the government's plan for renewable energy and would bring down Australians' electricity invoices.

However, the Coalition's figures are based on a scenario that'd nab about 45 per cent less energy by 2050 than renewables.

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What's the cost of nuclear power?

Modelling from the Coalition suggests its nuclear policy will cost Australia more than $300 billion, a lot less than the government's renewable energy plan.

But the CSIRO's draft GenCost 2024-25 report's projections are that building nuclear reactors would actually come out at least twice as expensive as renewable power in Australia.

By 2040, it's forecasted that electricity generated from nuclear power will be valued at approximately $145-$238 per megawatt hour (MWh), against $22-$53 per MWh for solar energy, and $45-$78 per MWh for wind electricity.

What's the impact of nuclear power on the environment/climate?

Nuclear power doesn't release greenhouse gases, but it's not a renewable source as its power generation process relies on fuel, namely uranium.

Although Australia has one of the biggest deposits of uranium globally, it's a limited source of energy and can't be replenished, which means it's not a renewable resource.

Nuclear waste also poses an environmental threat, especially in the case of a disaster like the Chernobyl or Fukushima incidents.

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