Australia must remain a nuclear-free country.
Nuclear energy and arms are not compatible with a clean future.
The Coalition's nuclear energy plan is light on detail but heavy with danger. It's a costly distraction from effective climate action that risks delaying – and even derailing – the sensible, considered and speedy transition to renewables that is already well underway and essential to protect the environment and safeguard our future.
To our 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.
The exaggerated claims being made by the latest round of nuclear promoters do not alter the evidence which clearly shows nuclear is the worst option for Australia. Promoting nuclear today will keep coal and gas burning for decades to come!
There are many reasons nuclear energy is not a viable alternative for Australia’s energy future:
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It takes too long – on average, it takes about nine years to build a nuclear power station and another 10 years for planning and licensing. Effectively that means two decades between first idea and first power. These are the critical decades to immediately reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
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It’s dirty and dangerous – Nuclear power stations pose significant community, environment and health risks. Apart from the radioactive waste they generate, nuclear power stations run on uranium which, like coal and gas, is not a renewable resource.
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It’s far more expensive than renewable options – Modelling shows developing nuclear infrastructure is 5-10 times more expensive than solar and wind. And even if the technology was in place, it would also cost more to produce.
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It needs a lot of water – Nuclear reactors use tonnes of water per second to cool the reactors to produce electricity. This is unlike wind and solar which require little or no ongoing water use.
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We have no proven options for managing long-term radioactive waste – All reactors create waste, and this is a growing and unresolved global management issue. For decades successive governments have tried to impose low and intermediate level waste dumps and stores, predominantly on First Nations lands, across multiple sites in Australia.
We must leave the uranium in the ground to keep our communities and the nature we rely on safe.
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
Nuclear. Leave it all in the ground.
It’s toxic and expensive. Very expensive. Very toxic.
This is an expensive exercise to maintain fossil fuels for longer. No private company is willing to do it because the economics don’t stack up and there’s the major problem of nuclear waste.
I have Grandchildren who do not need to be saddled with this nuclear nightmare!
It’s backward archaic thinking. Peter Dutton is no man to follow into the future.
Dangerous expensive slow to build
In Australia, 40% of houses and businesses have rooftop solar panels. As batteries become better and cheaper, the day and the night base load will be supplied, and it would be possible to gain a couple of daylight hours each way between Western Australia and Eastern Australia as the sun crosses from east to west. This would give us up to an extra four hours of daylight both ways overall the country. Rooftop solar power is infinitely better because it will support private production of essential components, and daily required goods, from a grid-free, rooftop-power supply; “Atomic plants are vulnerable to attack in wartime!”
I want Australia to be nuclear free because it is grossly expensive, will take too long to implement and it has waste that needs to be stored for 1000s of years. We have renewable energy for a clean future that is so much cheaper and better for our environment.
Nuclear energy is too late & too expensive for Australia now. The waste problem hasn’t been sorted, so NO nuclear.
I want Australia to be nuclear free because of the waste issue and safety risks. Also we have sun sun sun.. need to go solar!!
We have already fought this fight before and the science hasn’t changed. I want this world to be safe for my grandchildren, to be worth living in not a wasteland destroyed by people seeing the $ and not the whole picture.
When there is a cheaper option why go nuclear. Dutton is just selling us out to Gina
I reject Dutton and the LNP’s plan for nuclear power stations because their coatings cannot be trusted and they have no plan for dealing with the radioactive waste.