Peter Dutton’s nuclear reactors threaten Australia’s national security

The Coalition’s plan to build nuclear reactors would leave Australia vulnerable to missile warfare and sabotage, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group warns. The group includes former Australian Defence Force chief Chris Barrie and former Department of Defence Director of Preparedness and Mobilisation Cheryl Durrant.

Ret. Adml. Barrie said: "Every nuclear power facility is a potential dirty bomb because rupture of containment facilities can cause devastating damage. Modern warfare is increasingly focused on missiles and uncrewed aerial systems, and with the proposed power stations all located within a 100 kilometres of the coast, they are a clear and accessible target”.

Ms. Durrant said: “In the Ukraine-Russia war, both sides have given strategic priority to targeting their opponents’ energy systems, and Australia would be no different. So these nuclear facilities would necessitate expensive and complex missile defence systems as well as allocated cyber and counter-intelligence resources, making our security challenge more complex and expensive. Australia currently lacks a comprehensive, layered missile defence system capable of safeguarding both major urban centres and high-value, strategic infrastructure. The introduction of multiple nuclear facilities would necessitate a significant and costly expansion of Australia's defensive capabilities ‒ something our current military posture is not equipped to handle.”

Nuclear power stations are a dual target, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group states, due to their role in energy supply and also because of the catastrophic consequences of breach of the facilities. Nuclear reactors would dramatically increase the number of critical infrastructure targets that would need to be defended in the event of conflict.

Ret. Adml. Barrie said: “Do we prioritise the protection of cities and population centres and military bases, or do we divert vital resources to defending seven nuclear power stations scattered across Australia?"

A 2024 statement by the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group states:

“Proposals by the Liberal and National Parties to further weaken or remove Australia’s already inadequate climate targets and the suggestion that nuclear power is a viable solution within the relevant time frame ‒ the next decade ‒ are at best dismissive of the realities of cost and time to establish a nuclear power industry and more seriously display a profound ignorance of the impacts of climate change on national security and more importantly, human security in the broadest sense.

“The urgency for robust climate action could not be more clear. We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition rapidly to a zero-emissions economy. This includes rejecting slow and expensive nuclear power in favour of fast, safe and reliable renewable energy sources, and phasing out fossil fuel extraction, while ceasing new gas and coal projects. Strengthening climate resilience through infrastructure investment and enhancing disaster preparedness for the climate impacts we can no longer avoid is paramount.”

Ukraine

The International Atomic Energy Agency noted in a 2023 report that several of Ukraine’s five nuclear power plants and numerous other nuclear facilities had come under direct shelling since Russia’s 2022 invasion:

“Every single one of the IAEA’s crucial seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security in an armed conflict has been compromised, including the physical integrity of nuclear facilities; the operation of safety and security systems; the working conditions of staff; supply chains, communication channels, radiation monitoring and emergency arrangements; and the crucial off-site power supply.”

Loss of off-site power, and thus reliance on diesel generators to power reactor cooling, dramatically increases the risk of nuclear fuel meltdown and significantly increases the risk of a nuclear disaster. As of March 2025, off-site power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been lost eight times since the Russian invasion.

The IAEA report further said:

“Shelling, air attacks, reduced staffing levels, difficult working conditions, frequent losses of off-site power, disruption to the supply chain and the unavailability of spare parts, as well as deviations from planned activities and normal operations, have impacted each nuclear facility and many activities involving radioactive sources in Ukraine.

“The reliability of the national power infrastructure necessary for the safe and secure operation of the nuclear facilities has also been affected and, for the first time since the start of the armed conflict, all [nuclear power plant] sites, including the [Chernobyl] site, simultaneously suffered a loss of off-site power on 23 November 2022.”