Inquiry into nuclear prohibition

The current energy market in Australia is in a state of transition, with major fossil fue (coal) power generation plants reaching the end of their life and being replaced by other sources of electricity generation. Concerns about climate change and the impact of fossil fuels on carbon emissions, not only within Australia but globally, has driven this shift away from fossil fuels towards variable renewable energy sources. It is this need to shift towards low‑emissions power generation that the question of nuclear power has been raised in recent years. Currently nuclear power plays no role in energy generation in Australia and never has. In fact, since the Nuclear Activities (Prohibitions) Act 1983 (Vic) was enacted, there has been a legal prohibition on the construction and operation of nuclear facilities in Victoria. In addition to the Victorian legislation, Commonwealth laws also prohibit the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation across Australia. It is this legal prohibition of nuclear energy production that has been the focus of this Inquiry. During the course of the Inquiry, which attracted 80 submissions and during which the Committee held six days of public hearings of witnesses from Australia and overseas, the Committee heard a range of evidence both supporting and opposing the removal of the legal prohibitions on nuclear energy. In this report, the Committee makes no recommendations and does not take a strong position on nuclear power as an alternative energy source in Australia, and particularly in Victoria. It is clear that currently, it is not possible to accurately cost nuclear energy, as no nuclear energy industry exists in Australia and therefore any costing would be speculative and based on experiences of other countries with different infrastructure. However, figures produced by the CSIRO would indicate that traditional nuclear energy generation is currently expensive and unlikely to be taken up in Australia.