Nuclear power in Australia is a heavily debated concept. Australia currently has no nuclear facilities generating electricity, however, Australia has 31% of the world's uranium deposits and is the world's third largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan and Canada. At the same time, Australia's extensive, low-cost coal and natural gas reserves have historically been used as strong arguments for avoiding nuclear power.
In 2005, the Australian government threatened to use its constitutional powers to take control of the approval process for new uranium mines from the anti-nuclear Northern Territory government. Also, the government is negotiating with China to weaken safeguard terms to allow uranium exports there. States controlled by the Australian Labor Party are blocking the development of new mines in their jurisdictions under the ALP's "No New Mines policy."
The John Howard-led Coalition government went to the November 2007 federal election with a pro-nuclear power platform. This government was defeated by the Labor Party, however, which opposes nuclear power for Australia.
Read more about Nuclear Power In Australia: 1969 Jervis Bay Plant Proposal, Nuclear Power Politics, Nuclear Law, Nuclear Power Debate in Australia, People, Opinion Polls, After Fukushima, See Also
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