Minerals Council Australia chief Tania Constable calls for ‘nonsense’ nuclear and uranium bans to be lifted

A mining industry lobbyist has labelled bans on nuclear energy and uranium mining a “nonsense” that every Australian is paying for at a parliamentary hearing in Perth. The hearing is part of an ongoing inquiry called by the Albanese Government in response to the Coalition’s nuclear energy plans. Peter Dutton’s plan is for seven nuclear power plants, including at the site of the Muja coal station near Collie. Modelling by Frontier Economics, which supports nuclear energy in Australia, claimed the cost of the policy was $263 billion cheaper than Federal Labor’s renewables plan to achieve net zero by 2050. The modelling only covered the National Energy Market — which does not include WA. The Coalition is yet to model the impact of its policy on power bills. Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable told the committee, chaired by Labor MP Dan Repacholi, bans on nuclear energy and uranium mining should be lifted. New uranium mines are banned in WA, with the McGowan Government exempting four projects with existing approvals. Three of those four did not go ahead because the price of uranium at the time was much lower. Nuclear power was banned nationwide by the Howard Government, with State-level bans also in place. Ms Constable said without WA and Queensland producing uranium, Australia accounted for about 30 per cent of uranium reserves but only 10 per cent of global production. “Every Australian pays the price of a nonsense policy that should change. It’s time to lift the shackles on our uranium industry and remove the ban on nuclear power,” she said. At a media conference in Kwinana, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King pointed to the four uranium projects in WA that were approved but not operating. “That’s a matter for those miners and international markets... but a number of those mines have fallen into abeyance anyway,” she said. Ms Constable had golf balls for each committee member, saying a golf ball-sized amount of nuclear power could power the lifetime energy needs of the average Australian. “There is absolutely no mandate today for retaining the legaslative ban on nuclear energy in Australia. There is no scientific, technical or economic justification to be found,” she said. Ms Constable clashed with Melbourne-based teal independent Dr Monique Ryan who questioned the MCA’s claim nuclear power could be provided at a cheaper cost than a renewables-only approach. The chief executive said this data came from the UK and USA, with Dr Ryan responding that those countries had longstanding nuclear power sectors. Ms Constable pointed to the 20 megawatt Opal nuclear reactor in NSW. That facility produces nuclear medicine but not nuclear power. “I would say that this is a furphy, it is a convenient untruth, that we don’t have a regulatory regime that can support nuclear immediately,” Ms Constable said. “We have a world class, skilled workforce we can stand up and we could be adding to along the way.” The MCA boss said ARPANSA, the nation’s radiation regulator, was among “the best in the world”. “I don’t accept that it will take 15 or 20 years. I believe if we get going now, and we have the political will and bipartisan support for this form of their energy, we can get moving on this to make sure that in the medium term we’ve got an industry that we can be proud of,” Ms Constable said. Mr Repacholi said Ms Constable’s claims were “exceptionally hard to fathom” and contradicted expert advice that a legislative framework would take years to establish. Nuclear Free WA co-convener Liam Lilly told the committee that nuclear power was “unreliable and unsafe”. Mr Lilly said droughts and increasingly frequent natural disasters amid a changing climate would pose an even greater risks to the energy source. A small and mostly elderly group led by Nuclear Free WA protested the hearing. The group dubbed Mr Dutton; ‘dody Dutton’, deputy committee chair and shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien; ‘lyin’ O’Brien’ and Liberal MP for O’Connor Rick Wilson — whose electorate includes Collie — ‘wonky Wilson’. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA did not take a stance on whether the nation should pursue nuclear, but called for the bans on nuclear and uranium to be lifted. Tellus Holdings CEO Nate Smith, whose company operates Australia’s only radioactive waste disposal facility at Sandy Ridge near Kalgoorlie in 2023, said all energy created some radioactive waste, but the difference with nuclear was the scale. “Australia has the geology, and frankly, there’s technology out there to dispose of high-level waste. The challenge is the social license,” he said. Mr Smith said his venture had achieved community buy-in by being “transparent” and not “ignoring the wishes of nearby residents” or sidelining their concerns with a “wall of court cases”.