Nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the earth. Over 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account for 68% of w ...

and export, and

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–1973 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–1977 debate about

uranium mining in Australia Radioactive ores were first extracted in South Australia at Radium Hill in 1906 and Mount Gee#History, Mount Painter in 1911. 2,000 tons of ore were treated to recover radium for medical use. Several hundred kilograms of uranium were also prod ...

.Koutsoukis, Jason (25 November 2007)
Rudd romps to historic win
''The Age''. Retrieved 15 December 2010. Several groups specifically concerned with nuclear issues were established in the mid-1970s, including the Movement Against Uranium Mining and Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE), cooperating with other environmental groups such as

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

and the

Australian Conservation Foundation The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profi ...

.McLeod, Roy (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) ''Resistance to New Technology'', Cambridge University Press, pp. 171–173. The movement suffered a setback in 1983 when the newly elected Labor Government failed to implement its stated policy of stopping uranium mining. But by the late 1980s, the price of uranium had fallen, the costs of

had risen, and the anti-nuclear movement seemed to have won its case; CANE was disbanded in 1988.McLeod, Roy (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) ''Resistance to New Technology'', Cambridge University Press, pp. 175–177. As of 2015, Australia has no nuclear power stations and five uranium mines, four of which are located in South Australia. Olympic Dam (Roxby Downs) is a large underground mine,

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

, Four Mile and

Honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

are in-situ leach mines and Ranger is an

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...

mine in the Northern Territory.Work begins on Honeymoon uranium mine
(24 April 2009), ''ABC News''. Retrieved 15 December 2010. As of 2021 only two mines are operating (Olympic Dam and Four Mile) following the closure of Beverley and Ranger and the placement of Honeymoon into care-and-maintenance. Uranium mined in Australia is mainly for export. Australia has no

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

or nuclear-powered vessels.

History

1950s and 1960s

In 1952 the Australian Government established the Rum Jungle Uranium Mine south of Darwin. Local Aboriginal communities were not consulted to the extent of a formal treaty or agreement about mining and the mine site became an emblem for environmental disaster, with a small area of disturbance easily repaired and remedied. Also in 1952, the

Liberal Government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

passed legislation, the ''Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952'', which allowed the British Government access to remote parts of Australia to undertake atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. The general public were largely unaware of the risks from the testing program, stemming from official secrecy about the testing program and the remote locations of the test sites.Australian Government
A toxic legacy: British nuclear weapons testing in Australia
. But as the "Ban the Bomb" movement gathered momentum in Western societies throughout the 1950s, so too did opposition to the British tests in Australia. An opinion poll taken in 1957 showed 49 per cent of the Australian public were opposed to the tests and only 39 per cent in favour. In 1963, Australia was one of the first signatories to a

Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), formally known as the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, prohibited all nuclear weapons testing, test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those co ...

. In 1964, very small Peace Marches which featured "Ban the bomb" placards, were held in several Australian capital cities. In 1969, a 500 MW nuclear power plant was proposed for the Jervis Bay Territory, south of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. A local opposition campaign began, and the South Coast Trades and Labour Council (covering workers in the region) announced that it would refuse to build the reactor. Some environmental studies and site works were completed, and two rounds of tenders were called and evaluated, but in 1971 the Australian government decided not to proceed with the project, citing economic reasons.

1970s

The Ranger uranium deposits were first discovered by a joint venture between

Peko-Wallsend Peko-Wallsend was an Australian mining company. History Peko-Wallsend was founded in 1961 when Peko Mines merged with Wallsend Investments. In 1962 Peko-Wallsend purchased Toll Transport. In January 1968, Peko-Wallsend acquired a majority share ...

and Electrolytic Zinc Corporation, by airborne survey radiometric signals in October 1969. Remoteness and difficult terrain set the pace of ground investigation, but by about 1972 there was confidence that the Northern Territory of Australia hosted the largest and richest uranium deposits then known to the world. Ranger Uranium Mine in Kakadu National Park

Ranger Uranium Mine in Kakadu National Park

The 1972–73 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific mobilised several groups, including some trade unions. In 1972 the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

in a case launched by Australia and New Zealand, and advocated by Dr

Helen Caldicott Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate. She founded several associations dedicated to opposing the use of nuclear power, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear weapons, nuclear w ...

, ordered that the French cease atmospheric nuclear testing at

Mururoa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

atoll. In 1973 Australia's concerns saw it as a champion and an early adopter of the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

, and around this time, the Government ratified the Seabed Arms Control Treaty. Shortly after this, the Government negotiated with the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

to put in safeguards to ensure Australia could mine and export nuclear material but not breach the intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1974 and 1975 concern came to focus on uranium mining in Australia and several

groups were formed. The

also began voicing concern about uranium mining and supporting the activities of the grass-roots organisations. Concern about the environmental effects of uranium mining was a significant factor and poor management of waste at an early uranium mine, Rum Jungle, led it to become a significant pollution problem in the 1970s. The Australian anti-nuclear movement also acquired initial impetus from notable individuals who publicly voiced nuclear concerns, such as nuclear scientists Richard Temple and Rob Robotham, and poets Dorothy Green and

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 196 ...

.Martin, Brian (Summer 1982)
The Australian anti-uranium movement
''Alternatives: Perspectives on Society and Environment'', Volume 10, Number 4, pp. 26–35. Retrieved 15 December 2010. In 1975,

Moss Cass Moses Henry Cass (18 February 1927 – 26 February 2022) was an Australian doctor and politician who held ministerial office in the Whitlam government. He served as Minister for Environment and Conservation (1972–1975), the Environment (1975 ...

, Minister for the Environment and Conservation, led parliamentarians and ALP branch members in expressing concerns about the effects of

. A key concern was the adverse effect that uranium mining would have on the northern Aboriginal people. Cass said: "nuclear energy creates the most dangerous, insidious and persistent waste products, ever experienced on the planet". The years 1976 and 1977 saw uranium mining become a major political issue, with the Ranger Inquiry (Fox) report opening up a public debate about uranium mining.Bauer, Martin (ed) (1995). ''Resistance to New Technology'', Cambridge University Press, p. 173. Several groups specifically concerned with nuclear issues were established, including the Movement Against Uranium Mining (founded in 1976) and Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (formed in South Australia in 1976), cooperating with other environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth (which came to Australia in 1975) and the Australian Conservation Foundation (formed in 1975).Hutton, Drew and Connors, Libby (1999). ''A History of the Australian Environmental Movement'', Cambridge University Press. In November and December 1976, 7,000 people marched through the streets of Australian cities, protesting against uranium mining. The Uranium Moratorium group was formed and it called for a five-year moratorium on uranium mining. In April 1977 the first national demonstration co-ordinated by the Uranium Moratorium brought around 15,000 demonstrators into the streets of Melbourne, 5,000 in Sydney, and smaller numbers elsewhere.Falk, Jim (1982). ''Global Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power'', pp. 264–5. A National signature campaign attracted over 250,000 signatures calling for a five-year moratorium. In August, another demonstration brought 50,000 people out nationally and the opposition to uranium mining looked like a potential political force. During 1977 environmentalists also disrupted the loading of

yellowcake Yellowcake (also called urania) is a type of powdered uranium concentrate obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before ...

for export at Sydney's Glebe Island container terminal. In 1977, the National Conference of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) passed a motion in favour of an indefinite moratorium on uranium mining, and the anti-nuclear movement acted to support the Labor Party and help it regain office. However, a setback for the movement occurred in 1982 when another ALP conference overturned its anti-uranium policy in favour of a "one mine policy". After the ALP won power in 1983, its 1984 National Conference voted in favour of a " Three mine policy". This referred to the then three existing uranium mines in Australia, Nabarlek, Ranger and Roxby Downs/Olympic Dam, and articulated ALP support for pre-existing mines and contracts, but opposition to any new mining. In 1977–78, the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

, under the leadership of

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 8 April 1974 to 25 January 1982. A member of the Western Australian Liberal Party, Liberal Par ...

, announced plans for a nuclear power reactor near

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. 1977 was seen as the year of mass mobilization in Western Australia, with 300 at the first anti-nuclear demonstration to 9,000 at the third protest in the inner city of Perth. Despite public protest, the Government of Western Australia selected a first site for a nuclear reactor in 1979 at Wilbinga, north of Perth. Court predicted that at least another 20 nuclear power plants would be needed by the end of the century to meet rapidly growing power demand, but all of this never eventuated. From the late 1970s, a number of agreements were signed enabling the potential peaceful export (and import) of nuclear material: * In July 1978 with

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

* August 1978 with the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

* August 1978 with the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

* May 1979 with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

* July 1979, with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

* October 1980, with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for ultimate use by

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

* March 1981, with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

These International agreements created a market for Australia to mine and export uranium.

1980s and 1990s

Between 1979 and 1984, the majority of what is now

Kakadu National Park Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded l ...

was created, surrounding but not including the Ranger uranium mine. Tension between mining and conservation values led to long running controversy around mining in the Park region. The two themes for the 1980 Hiroshima Day march and rally in Sydney, sponsored by the Movement Against Uranium Mining (MAUM), were: "Keep uranium in the ground" and "No to nuclear war." Later that year, the Sydney city council officially proclaimed Sydney nuclear-free, in an action similar to that taken by many other local councils throughout Australia. In the 1980s, academic critics (such as Jim Falk) discussed the "deadly connection" between uranium mining, nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons, linking Australia's nuclear policy to

nuclear proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries, particularly those not recognized as List of states with nuclear weapons, nuclear-weapon states by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonl ...

and the "plutonium economy". Construction and mining at Roxby Dows was blockaded in separate protests during 1983 and 1984 and an anti-nuclear vigil held in between them. In the 1980s, Australia experienced a significant growth of nuclear disarmament activism:Wittner, Lawrence S. (22 June 2009)
Nuclear Disarmament Activism in Asia and the Pacific, 1971–1996
''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 25-5-09. The

Nuclear Disarmament Party The Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) was an Australian political party formed in June 1984. It was founded by medical researcher Michael Denborough as the political arm of the Australian anti-nuclear movement, which had been active since the ear ...

won a Senate seat in 1984, but soon faded from the political scene. The years of the Hawke-Keating ALP governments (1983–1996) were characterised by an "uneasy standoff in the uranium debate". The ALP acknowledged community feeling against uranium mining but was reluctant to move against the industry.Martin, Brian (Second Quarter 2007)
Opposing nuclear power: past and present
''Social Alternatives'', Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 43–47. Retrieved 15 December 2010. The 1986 Palm Sunday anti-nuclear rallies drew 250,000 people. In Melbourne, the seamen's union boycotted the arrival of foreign nuclear warships. Australia's only nuclear energy education facility, the former School of Nuclear Engineering at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, closed in 1986.Agelidis, Vassilios (7 December 2010)
Too late for nuclear
''ABC News''. By the late 1980s, the price of uranium had fallen, and the costs of nuclear power had risen, and the anti-nuclear movement seemed to have won its case. The Campaign Against Nuclear Energy disbanded itself in 1988, two years after the

Chernobyl Disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

. The government policy preventing new uranium mines continued into the 1990s, despite occasional reviews and debate. Following protest marches in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane during 1998, a proposed mine at Jabiluka was blocked. Also in 1998, there was a proposal from an international consortium, Pangea Resources, to establish a

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

dump in Western Australia. The plan, to store 20 per cent of the world's spent nuclear fuel and weapons material, was "publicly condemned and abandoned".

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

. (2005)
Chronology – Australia's Nuclear Political History
Retrieved 15 December 2010.

2000s

In 2000, the Ranger Uranium Mine in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and the Roxby Downs/Olympic Dam mine in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

continued to operate, but

Nabarlek Uranium Mine The Nabarlek Mine is a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia which was productively worked only in 1979. The deposit sits within the Alligator Rivers Uranium Field approximately northeast of Jabiru. It was discovered by Queensl ...

had closed. A third uranium mine,

Beverley Uranium Mine The Beverley Mine is Australia's third uranium mine and Australia's first operating in-situ recovery mine. It is located in South Australia in the gazetted locality of Wooltana about 35 km from Lake Frome at the northern end of the Fli ...

in SA, was also operating. Several advanced projects, such as Honeymoon in SA, Jabiluka in the Northern Territory and Yeelirrie in WA were on hold because of political and indigenous opposition.Anti-uranium demos in Australia
(5 April 1998), BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2010. In May 2000 there was an anti-nuclear demonstration at the

, which involved about 100 protesters. Ten of the protesters were mistreated by police and were later awarded more than in damages from the South Australian government. Following the McClelland Royal Commission, a large clean-up was completed in outback South Australia in 2000, after nuclear testing at Maralinga during the 1950s contaminated the region. The cleanup lasted three years, and cost over $100million, but there was controversy over the methods used and success of the operation. On 17 December 2001, 46 Greenpeace activists occupied the Lucas Heights facility to protest the construction of a second research reactor. Protestors gained access to the grounds, the HIFAR reactor, the high-level radioactive waste store and the radio tower. Their protest highlighted the security and environmental risks of the production of nuclear materials and the shipment of radioactive waste from the facility. As uranium prices began rising from about 2003, proponents of nuclear power advocated it as a solution to

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

and the Australian government began taking an interest. However, in June 2005, the Senate passed a motion opposing nuclear power for Australia. Then, in November 2006, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry and Resources released a pro-nuclear report into Australia's uranium. In late 2006 and early 2007, then Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

made widely reported statements in favour of nuclear power, on environmental grounds. Faced with these proposals to examine nuclear power as a possible response to climate change, anti-nuclear campaigners and scientists in Australia emphasised claims that nuclear power could not significantly substitute for other power sources, and that uranium mining itself could become a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.Diesendorf, Mark (2007)
Paths to a Low-Carbon Future: Reducing Australia’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 (PDF)
Green, Jim (2005)
Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change (PDF)
Anti-nuclear campaigns were given added impetus by public concern about the sites for possible reactors: fears exploited by anti-nuclear power political parties in the lead-up to a national election in 2007. The

Rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. The fishes in this genus are commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without ...

Labor government elected in 2007 opposed nuclear power for Australia.Lewis, Steve and Kerr, Joseph (30 December 2006)
Support for nuclear power falls
''The Australian''. The anti-nuclear movement continues to be active in Australia, opposing expansion of existing uranium mines, lobbying against the development of nuclear power in Australia, and criticising proposals for nuclear waste disposal sites, the main candidate being Muckaty station in the Northern Territory. Following campaigning and litigation, that project was cancelled as well as other planned waste dumps near Woomera and at Wallerberdina and Kimba in South Australia. By April 2009, construction had begun on South Australia's third uranium mine—the Honeymoon Uranium Mine. In October 2009, the Australian government was continuing to plan for a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory. However, there was opposition from indigenous people, the NT government, and wider NT community. In November 2009, about 100 anti-nuclear protesters assembled outside the Alice Springs parliamentary sittings, urging the Northern Territory Government not to approve a nearby uranium mine site.

2010s

As of 2016, Australia has no nuclear power stations and the former Gillard Labor government was opposed to nuclear power for Australia. Australia has three operating uranium mines at Olympic Dam (Roxby) and

– both in

's north – and at Ranger in the Northern Territory. Australia has no

. Australia operates a

research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritim ...

which produces medical radioisotopes at

OPAL Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

. As of early April 2010, more than 200 environmentalists and indigenous people gathered in

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek () is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the Northern Territory#Cities and towns, seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with ...

to oppose a radioactive waste dump being built on Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory. Western Australia has a significant share of the Australia's uranium reserves, but between 2002 and 2008, a statewide ban on uranium mining was in force. The ban was lifted when the Liberal Party was voted into power in the state and, as of 2010, many companies are exploring for uranium in Western Australia. One of the industry's major players, the mining company

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

, planned to develop the Yeelirrie uranium project in a 17 billion dollar project. Two other projects in Western Australia are further advanced then BHP's Yeelirrie, these being the Lake Way uranium project, which is pursued by Toro Energy, and the Lake Maitland uranium project, pursued by Mega Uranium.Toro gets approval for uranium project
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'', published: 7 January 2010, accessed: 13 February 2011 But it is unlikely that any new projects will enter active development until the market improves. As of 2013 uranium prices are very low. As of late 2010, there are calls for Australians to debate whether the nation should adopt nuclear power as part of its energy mix. Nuclear power is seen to be "a divisive issue that can arouse deep passions among those for and against". Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear emergency in Japan, where three nuclear reactors were damaged by explosions, Ian Lowe sees the nuclear power option as being risky and unworkable for Australia. Lowe says nuclear power is too expensive, with insurmountable problems associated with waste disposal and weapons proliferation. It is also not a fast enough response to address climate change. Lowe advocates

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

which is "quicker, less expensive and less dangerous than nuclear". Nuclear reactors are banned in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. Uranium mining was previously prohibited in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

under the Uranium Prohibition Act of 1986, however in 2012 Premier

Barry O'Farrell Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian former politician who was Australia's List of Australian High Commissioners to India, High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan from February 2020 to 30 June 202 ...

amended the legislation to allow prospecting and mining of uranium in New South Wales. In December 2011, the sale of uranium to India was a contentious issue. MPs clashed over the issue and protesters were marched from Sydney's convention centre before Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

's motion to remove a party ban on uranium sales to India was narrowly supported 206 votes to 185. Long-time anti-nuclear campaigner

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...

MP spoke against the motion. In March 2012, hundreds of anti-nuclear demonstrators converged on the Australian headquarters of global mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The 500-strong march through southern Melbourne called for an end to uranium mining in Australia, and included speeches and performances by representatives of the expatriate Japanese community as well as Australia's Indigenous communities, who are concerned about the effects of uranium mining near tribal lands. There were also events in Sydney. A site within Muckaty Station was considered for Australia's low-level and intermediate-level

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

storage and disposal facility. However, the plan was withdrawn following a High Court hearing, and one of the seven clans of

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of Muckaty Station, the Ngapa clan, served papers on the Northern Land Council over the way the process was handled. Uncle Kevin Buzzacott in Adelaide 2014

More than 400 people joined a "Lizard's Revenge march" to the Olympic Dam site in July 2012. The anti-nuclear activists, including Elder Kevin Buzzacott, protested against the mine expansion and the uranium industry. They say the company and the government have put short-term economic gain ahead of environmental and health concerns. Organiser Nectaria Calan said police harassed protesters, demanding identification and controlling access to and from their campsite. In August 2012, BHP Billiton announced that the expansion was being postponed indefinitely pending investigation of a "new and cheaper design". Historically, many prospective Australian uranium mines have been constrained by active antinuclear opposition, but state governments have now approved mine development in Western Australia and Queensland. But it is unlikely that any new projects will enter active development until the market improves. As of 2013 uranium prices are very low.

Cameco Cameco Corporation (formerly Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation) is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18 ...

placed the

Kintyre Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...

project on hold until market prices improve and

Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...

has stated that its project proposals (Bigrlyi, Angela/Pamela, Manyingee, Oobagooma, and Valhalla/Skal) need higher uranium market prices before they can proceed.

Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

wants to take the Wiluna proposal to the development phase, but has not been successful in attracting equity investors. When market prices go up again, so that mine development is justified, most projects would need at least five years to proceed to production. In 2013, Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

supported nuclear power, saying: "nuclear power is the only proven way of generating the base load power Australia needed without producing carbon pollution". Abbott's Coalition's Resources and Energy policy says "the Coalition will formalise the agreement to sell uranium to India". In 2016 under

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, both Australian political parties opened the door for uranium exports to India, with trade potentially starting in 2017. In 2015, South Australian Premier

Jay Weatherill Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian former politician who was the 45th premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the South Australian House of Assembly, House of ...

announced that a Royal Commission would be held to investigate the state's role in the nuclear fuel cycle. South Australia is currently home to four of Australia's five uranium mines, and the possibility of the state developing nuclear power generation, enrichment and waste storage facilities have previously proven to be contentious issues. The Royal Commission comes at a time of economic contraction for South Australia, which is suffering from job losses in mining and manufacturing sectors. Immediately following the announcement of the Royal Commission, emeritus Prof. Ian Lowe suggested that the current inquiry risks retreading old ground already covered by several previous public inquiries and proposals for nuclear industrialisation. Lowe referred to the 2006 UMPNER review's finding that substantial government subsidies would be required to support nuclear industrial development in Australia, and the 1976–78 Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry (Fox Report), which drew attention to the problems of nuclear weapons proliferation and

. On 17 April 2015, Lowe was selected as one of five members of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Expert Advisory Committee.

2020s

In 2024,

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...

said he intends, if elected, to build seven government-owned nuclear power plants in five states to be operational by 2035–2037. The sites for these nuclear power plants are all former coal-fired power stations: * Tarong Power Station in Tarong, Queensland * Callide Power Station at Mount Murchison, Queensland *

Liddell Power Station Liddell Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired thermal power station that had four EE steam-driven turbine alternators, providing a combined electrical capacity of . Its operating capacity was assessed at in April 2018. Commissioned ...

near

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney bas ...

, New South Wales * Mount Piper Power Station near

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, New South Wales * Northern Power Station at Port Paterson, South Australia *

Loy Yang Power Station The Loy Yang Power Station is a brown coal-fired thermal power station located on the outskirts of the city of Traralgon, in south-eastern Victoria, Australia. It consists of two sections, known as Loy Yang A (4 units) and Loy Yang B (2 units). ...

Traralgon Traralgon ( , ) is a city located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the ...

, Victoria * Muja Power Station near

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many type ...

, Western Australia

Issues

The case against nuclear power and uranium mining in Australia has been concerned with the environmental, political, economic, social and cultural impacts of nuclear energy; with the shortcomings of nuclear power as an energy source; and with presenting a

sustainable energy Energy system, Energy is sustainability, sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the e ...

strategy. The most prominent adverse impact of nuclear power is seen to be its potential contribution towards proliferation of nuclear weapons. For example, the 1976 Ranger Inquiry report stated that "The nuclear power industry is unintentionally contributing to an increased risk of nuclear war. This is the most serious hazard associated with the industry". The health risks associated with nuclear materials have also featured prominently in Australian anti-nuclear campaigns. This has been the case worldwide because of accidents like the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, but Australian concerns have also involved specific local factors such as controversy over the health effects of

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

in Australia and the South Pacific, and the emergence of prominent anti-nuclear campaigners

and Tilman Ruff, who are medical practitioners. The economics of nuclear power has been a factor in anti-nuclear campaigns, with critics arguing that such power is uneconomical in Australia, particularly given the country's abundance of coal resources. According to the anti-nuclear movement, most of the problems with nuclear power today are much the same as in the 1970s. Nuclear reactor accidents still occur and there is no convincing solution to the problem of long-lived radioactive waste. Nuclear weapons proliferation continues to occur, notably in Pakistan and North Korea, building on facilities and expertise from civilian nuclear operations. The alternatives to nuclear power,

efficient energy use Efficient energy use, or energy efficiency, is the process of reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services. There are many technologies and methods available that are more energy efficient than conventional systems. For ...

and

(especially

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

), have been further developed and commercialised.

Public opinion

A 2009 poll conducted by the

Uranium Information Centre {{Unreferenced, date=December 2021 The Uranium Information Centre (UIC) was an Australian organisation primarily concerned with increasing the public understanding of uranium mining and nuclear power, nuclear electricity generation. Founded in 1 ...

found that Australians in the 40 to 55 years age group are the "most trenchantly opposed to nuclear power". This generation was raised during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, experienced the

anti-nuclear movement The Anti-nuclear war movement is a new social movements, social movement that opposes various nuclear technology, nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified them ...

of the 1970s, witnessed the 1979 partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in the US, and the 1986

. It was the generation which was also subject to cultural influences including feature films such as the "nuclear industry conspiracies" ''

The China Syndrome ''The China Syndrome'' is a 1979 American thriller film directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook. The film stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas (who also produced). It follows a television re ...

'' and ''

Silkwood ''Silkwood'' is a 1983 American biographical drama film directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was adapted from the book ''Who Killed Karen Silkwood?'' by ''Ro ...

'' and the apocalyptic '' Dr Strangelove''. Younger people are "less resistant" to the idea of nuclear power in Australia.Strong, Geoff and Munro, Ian (13 October 2009)
Going Fission
''The Age''. Analysis of opinion polls from 2012 shows a "significant decrease in favourable views of nuclear power" following the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which r ...

. Indigenous land owners have consistently opposed uranium mining and have spoken out about the adverse impact it has on their communities.Vaisutis, Justine (April 2010). Indigenous communities getting dumped in it. Again. ''Habitat Australia'', Vol. 38, No. 2, p. 22. The

British nuclear tests at Maralinga British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

were found to have left significant radiation hazards in land given back to the Maralinga Tjarutja people, and the issue continues to cause indigenous opposition.

Active groups

Individuals

There are several prominent Australians who have publicly expressed anti-nuclear views: *

Dorothy Auchterlonie Dorothy Auchterlonie (also known as Dorothy Green; 28 May 1915 – 21 February 1991) was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet. Life Auchterlonie was born in Sunderland, County Durham in England. In 1927 when she ...

* David Bradbury (film maker) *

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...

* Eileen Kampakuta Brown * Kevin Buzzacott *

*Joseph Camilleri *

Ian Cohen Ian Cohen (born 5 June 1951) is a former Australian politician and member of the Greens New South Wales. Cohen was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1995 as its first Green member. He retired from parliament in 2011. Early ...

Michael Denborough Michael Antony Denborough (11 July 19298 February 2014) was an Australian academic and medical researcher who founded the Nuclear Disarmament Party. Denborough was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) to Paul Peter Denborough and ...

Mark Diesendorf Mark Diesendorf is an Australian academic and environmentalist, known for his work in sustainable development and renewable energy. He currently researches at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia. He was formerly profess ...

* Jim Falk *

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

* Jim Green (activist) * Margaret Holmes * Avon Hudson * Jacqui Katona * Sandra Kanck * Ian Lowe * Scott Ludlam * Yvonne Margarula * Dee Margetts * Jillian Marsh *

Kerry Nettle Kerry Michelle Nettle (born 24 December 1973) is a former Australian Senator and member of the Australian Greens in New South Wales. Elected at the 2001 federal election on a primary vote of 4.36 percent with One Nation and micro-party pref ...

* David Noonan (environmentalist) *

John Quiggin John Quiggin (born 29 March 1956) is an Australian economist, a professor at the University of Queensland. He was formerly an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Federation Fellow and a member of the board of the Climate Change A ...

*Mia Pepper * Tilman Ruff *

Nancy Shelley Nancy Jean Shelley (1926–2010) OAM was a Quaker peace activist who represented the Australian peace movement at the United Nations in 1982. She was a prominent speaker at many Australian and international conferences in the 1980s and 1990s. She ...

* Dave Sweeney *

Jo Vallentine Josephine Vallentine (born 30 May 1946) is an Australian peace activist and politician, a former senator for Western Australia. She entered the Senate on 1 July 1985 after election as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party but sat as an inde ...

* Giz Watson *Peter Watts *

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was an Australian novelist and playwright who explored themes of religious experience, personal identity and the conflict between visionary individuals and a materialistic, co ...

* Stuart White *Bill WilliamsJames Norman and Bill Williams
Stars align in quest to rid the world of nukes
''The Age'', 24 September 2009. * Eileen Wani Wingfield

References

Bibliography

* Cooke, Stephanie (2009). '' In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age'', Black Inc. *Diesendorf, Mark (2009). ''Climate Action: A Campaign Manual for Greenhouse Solutions'', University of New South Wales Press. * Diesendorf, Mark (2007). ''

Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy ''Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy'' is a 2007 book by Australian academic Mark Diesendorf. The book puts forward a set of policies and strategies for implementing the most promising clean energy technologies by all spheres of gover ...

'', University of New South Wales Press. * Elliott, David (2007). '' Nuclear or Not? Does Nuclear Power Have a Place in a Sustainable Energy Future?'', Palgrave. *Falk, Jim (1982). ''Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power'', Oxford University Press. *Giugni, Marco (2004). ''Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements in Comparative Perspective'', Rowman and Littlefield. * Lovins, Amory B. (1977). '' Soft Energy Paths: Towards a Durable Peace'', Friends of the Earth International, *Lovins, Amory B. and Price, John H. (1975). '' Non-Nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy'', Ballinger Publishing Company, 1975, * Lowe, Ian (2007). '' Reaction Time: Climate Change and the Nuclear Option'',

Quarterly Essay ''Quarterly Essay'', founded in 2001, is an Australian periodical published by Black Inc., concentrating primarily on Australian politics in a broad sense. Printed in a book-like page size and using a single-column format, each issue features a ...

. *Parkinson, Alan (2007). '' Maralinga: Australia’s Nuclear Waste Cover-up'', ABC Books. * Pernick, Ron and Wilder, Clint (2012). '' Clean Tech Nation: How the U.S. Can Lead in the New Global Economy'', HarperCollins. * Schneider, Mycle and

Antony Froggatt Antony Froggatt is an energy policy consultant and a senior research fellow at Chatham House. He is co-author of '' The World Nuclear Industry Status Reports''. Biography Antony Froggatt is a senior research fellow in the Energy, Environment and De ...

, (2012). '' The World Nuclear Industry Status Report''. *Smith, Jennifer (Editor), (2002). ''The Antinuclear Movement'', Cengage Gale. *Walker, J. Samuel (2004). '' Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective'', University of California Press.

External links

Australian map of nuclear and uranium sites''Nuclear Knights''
a book by Brian Martin, university professor.
''Strategy against nuclear power''
an anti-nuclear campaign strategy produced by Friends of the Earth.
''Backs to the Blast, an Australian Nuclear Story''
a documentary about nuclear testing in Australia.
''Stop Uranium Mining! Australia's Decade of Protest 1975–1985''
a history of anti-nuclear protest in the 1970s and 1980s.
ALSOS Digital Library for Nuclear IssuesChain Reaction magazineContemporary critiques of nuclear power by Australian scientists
*Say NO to Uranium mining (An Interview of Uncle Kevin Buzzacott) on YouTube Channel ''Telling Indigenous Stories:
Aboriginal :Stop Uranium Mining (Mr. Kevin Buzzacot)

ACE Anti-Nuclear Activist Archive
large archival collection from ACE at FoEA
Anti-Nuclear Archives
growing collection of digitised videos from ACE {{Anti-nuclear movement

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Nuclear energy in Australia Political movements in Australia Environmentalism in Australia Protests in Australia Technology in society Social movements in Australia