US nuclear submarines deal re-energises SA resource industry

South Australia has a new chance to grab a golden opportunity for a local nuclear industry, experts say, but it will take bold leaders to make it happen.

Brave leaders are needed to engage the community in a broader discussion around the prospects of a South Australian nuclear industry in the wake of the submarine announcement, experts say.

With a quarter of the world’s uranium resources – and 80 per cent of the nation’s – home of the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency and soon, the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, SA is well placed, argues the state’s peak industry body.

The SA Chamber of Mines & Energy also notes the state has one of the only Australian ports approved for export of uranium products and a well-developed regulatory regime governing the uranium supply chain.

A uranium mine work takes a sample of yellowcake from a drum. Picture: File

Former SA governor Kevin Scarce said nuclear opportunities were worth re-exploring. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“Despite these significant advantages, South Australia is yet to fully realise the benefits of a nuclear industry and this can only come from concerted, bipartisan efforts to advance the public policy debate,” chief executive Rebecca Knol said.

“The outcome of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission has left political representatives reluctant to pursue the nuclear argument.

“Without political support Federal and State laws prohibiting nuclear power and uranium processing cannot be altered and new technologies like small modular reactors continue to be excluded as an option in the broader energy policy debate.”

Former governor Kevin Scarce, who headed the Royal Commission in 2015-16, said it was “certainly” worth revisiting the nuclear opportunity but it would “take a brave political party to do it”.

“The best way to do that is to have a debate and discussion with the community, without unrealistic time frames put on it,” he said.

He said consideration of the Royal Commission’s report was “rushed” and the government “did not give a broad enough opportunity to the whole of the community”.

“It was just disappointing that we didn’t follow through and have the sort of discussion that was necessary, that we’ve seen from overseas experiences would enable us to move the discussion forward, it was just too quickly done,” Mr Scarce said.

A YouGov poll of more than 800 people published in June showed more than half of South Australians were open to the idea of the state producing nuclear energy to tackle carbon emissions.