To our elected representatives, we call on you to make Australia nuclear-free:
- End uranium mining and exports, and clean up all old uranium mines
- Say no to nuclear power – it is high-risk, high-cost and a dangerous distraction from real climate solutions, like clean energy from the sun and wind
- Take a strong stand against nuclear weapons – this includes signing and ratifying the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty
- Manage radioactive waste transparently and responsibly
From ancient rock formations to mountains swirled with ochre, this continent is a geological wonderland. Some of our minerals are even vibrant green – and radioactive. In fact, around a third of the world’s uranium reserves are found in Australia.
But we must leave the uranium in the ground to keep our communities and the nature we rely on safe.
Mining these radioactive rocks pollutes our air, soil and water. It can damage the genetic and reproductive systems of plants, animals and people.
All of Australia’s operating uranium mines have a history of leaks, spills and accidents – and none have ever been properly rehabilitated. To this day, radioactive waste percolates in the local drainage system of the now abandoned Mary Kathleen mine in Queensland.
Nuclear power is nothing but a dirty, dangerous distraction from real climate solutions like clean energy from the sun and wind.
And there is no secure, long-term solution to cope with the millions of tonnes of radioactive waste from mining operations, or the more risky and longer-lived radioactive waste from nuclear power stations.
Yet for two decades now, successive governments have tried imposing uranium mines and radioactive waste dumps on unwilling remote communities. Right now, they're pushing to ship, store and bury national radioactive waste on Barngarla country in South Australia, even though SA and Barngarla Traditional Owners said no to being an international waste dump.
Decisions on handling radioactive waste last longer than this generation. Let's get it right and make Australia nuclear-free.
Header image: Sea lions gather on the beach on the Eyre Peninsula. At the top of the Peninsula is Kimba, where the government is proposing to put a national radioactive waste site despite unanimous opposition from Barngarla Traditional Owners
Latest Supporters
There is no future in going nuclear and the obligations for the coming millennia will remain to those who did not benefit from the original use.
We must stop treating our planet as though ‘it bis longs to someone else’!
I am for a Nuclear Free Australia for our next generation to have a clean environment
Nuclear power proponents should not only own the responsibility for power plant construction and operation, but also have the total ownership for end-of-life plant removal and disposal and then the very long term responsibility for their safe nuclear waste storage. If a proposing operator had that full lifetime economic ownership requirement placed on them then any debate about whether nuclear power made sense at all most likely would now be well in the past.
South Australia has already had an extensive community investigation on nuclear waste disposal and the answer was conclusively a big NO. There is no justification for the use of this outmoded, expensive and dangerous material anywhere is Australia, and many of us are sick to death of conservative politicians seeking to enrich their big business friends to the detriment of our wonderful country, our Indigenous community and those of us who are better informed of the consequences than our elected representatives. Government no longer has our trust over this issue and Federal government no longer has our trust over any issue because of their blatant corruption and misuse of public money for their own benefit.
We need a sustainable, clean energy source without toxic waste – nuclear just cannot offer that.
No need for nuclear – go renewable and green, plus invest in energy storage R&D, and save the planet instead.
I find it difficult to believe we STILL have to fight against this stupidity. Remember the accidents in Chernoble and Japan etc and prevent more by leaving uranium in the ground.
I am totally against the idea of nuclear energy and importing nuclear waste from other countries. Nuclear Power is high cost and the waste remains for millions of years. Other countries are now realising the error of nuclear energy and the cost and are turning to renewable energies in a big way. This is where Australia should be heading and not cowtowing to the big mining corporations.
The future is Renewables, Not Nuclear