“Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a dark wood.” Dante’s famous opening line from The Divine Comedy, the greatest of all Italian renaissance texts, aptly describes the Albanese Labor government’s approach to nuclear power in Australia, a metaphor for confusion.
Last week, I returned from a US study tour on nuclear energy, where I witnessed the astonishing momentum of research reshaping the global energy landscape. This reinforced my belief that Australia’s emissions reduction pathway cannot ignore nuclear. Globally, any serious roadmap to emissions reduction must include nuclear.
While Australia continues to debate the merits of nuclear energy, our renewables transition is mired in challenges from grid integration, the social licence of transmission infrastructure, to an ever expanding environmental footprint.
We need a technology agnostic energy mix that includes all abundant energy resources. Australia sits on approximately 30% of the world's uranium reserves, the largest known deposits on Earth. We are literally sitting on a key solution to our energy challenges while steadfastly refusing to use it. It is an absurd situation that would be laughable if the stakes were not so high. We are already mining and exporting uranium overseas for other countries’ civil nuclear programs, so why not use our own resources to benefit ourselves?
World energy consumption is forecast to rise nearly 50% by 2050, and conservative estimates predict that global electricity demand will nearly double. Data centres, manufacturing, electrification of transport and the industrialisation of Asia and Africa are driving energy demands that intermittent renewables simply cannot meet on their own. Countries that recognise this reality are positioning themselves as energy superpowers of the 21st century. Those that do not will be left behind.
The American researchers I met were genuinely excited about 3D printed micro-reactors, small modular reactors, advanced fuel cycles, and Generation IV technologies. They showcased breakthroughs that rapidly compress manufacturing and deployment timelines, and make nuclear energy the safest, most flexible form of energy ever developed. With AEMO forecasting that our electricity consumption from the grid will more than double by 2050, we need all the clean energy we can get.
Nuclear energy remains the only proven technology capable of delivering large-scale, carbon-free baseload power. Countries that have successfully decarbonised their grids, like France, where nearly 70% of electricity comes from nuclear, demonstrate how reliable, consistent nuclear power is essential to driving meaningful emissions reductions.
The momentum is undeniable. The UK is investing billions in new nuclear capacity, and countries once skeptical of nuclear power are reconsidering, as their decarbonisation challenges increase. At COP29, 31 countries endorsed the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050. We are in the middle of a global nuclear renaissance.
The absurdity of Australia's position becomes pronounced when we consider recent events. Take our Prime Minister's recent return from New York, where he lobbied ferociously for Australia to host next year's COP climate summit. Nuclear energy will undoubtedly be a key discussion point at this gathering. What will Australia do when this topic hits the agenda? Recuse itself from the conversation? Turkey certainly won’t.
Or consider the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to meet President Trump next month. They will discuss AUKUS and the provision of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in a partnership that includes our government's $12 billion investment to service these nuclear vessels in Perth. What will our Prime Minister say if President Trump raises the possibility of a civil nuclear agreement? "Thanks, but we are not interested"?
The contradictions are staggering. We are happy to embrace nuclear technology when it serves our defence needs, investing billions in nuclear-powered submarines, yet we refuse to consider how this same technology could transform our energy sector and help achieve our climate goals.
As Peter Malinauskas, SA Premier told the Energy Nation Forum last week, “We don’t achieve net zero globally and the timelines that we want without nuclear energy playing a far bigger role.” It is that simple. Renewables are a part of our energy mix, but they cannot provide the baseload power that our economy requires. Battery storage, while improving, remains expensive at grid scale and cannot fill seasonal gaps in renewable generation.
The rest of the world is moving forward with nuclear technology while we stand still, hamstrung by legislation that bans nuclear power despite our massive uranium reserves and growing energy needs.
The choice is clear. We can keep exporting uranium while importing energy solutions from other countries, or we can harness our natural advantages to become a clean-energy superpower. The nuclear technology exists. The resources exist. What we need now is the political will to act.
ENDS
Contact: Sandie Gustus M | 0408 564 232 E | sandie.gustus@aph.gov.au
