Australia Amends Nuclear Ban to Facilitate Acquisition of Nuclear Submarines

Defence Minister Richard Marles speaks at a press conference in front of the USS Asheville, a Los Angeles-class nuclear powered fast attack submarine during a tour of HMAS Stirling in Perth, Australia, on March 16, 2023. AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

The Australian government has made its first move to support domestic operations for the AUKUS nuclear submarines, putting forward a bill to update the country’s nuclear ban.

Defence Minister Richard Marles presented the bill which will allow the performance of regulatory functions that nuclear submarines require, as well as the supporting infrastructure and facilities, to the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

It does not lift the moratorium on civil nuclear power in Australia, which has been in place since 1998.

Marles said this was the first legislative step to “developing the full suite of skills, facilities, and institutions along with an appropriate regulatory and legislative architecture to be nuclear stewards.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L), US President Joe Biden (C) and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) hold a press conference after a trilateral meeting during the AUKUS summit in San Diego, California, on March 13, 2023. Leon Neal/Getty Images

“This means the relevant regulators—the CEO of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency and the Minister for the Environment and Water—are in no way inhibited from performing their functions in respect of conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines and their supporting infrastructure and facilities,” he told Parliament.

Australia will purchase at least three nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) over the next decade under AUKUS, a trilateral security pact, as it sets up a domestic industry to eventually build its own ships.

To comply with the nuclear ban, Australia’s new nuclear submarine design, currently known as SSN-AUKUS, will not be equipped with nuclear missiles.

Response to An Increasingly Challenging Environment

The $386 billion (US$260 billion) deal was struck in response to China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, where it has been carrying out a large-scale military build-up for years.

Marles said this military build-up without any strategic assurances was contributing to the “most challenging” circumstances in the region in decades.

“Combined with rising tensions and reduced warning time for conflict, the risks of military escalation or miscalculation are rising,” he said.

“These interests demand we deploy all elements of our national power in statecraft seeking to shape a region that is open, stable, and prosperous: a predictable region, operating by agreed rules, standards and laws, where sovereignty is respected.”

Acquiring SSNs would “unquestionably” strengthen Australia’s defence capabilities, making it just one of seven nations to operate the technology.

“Indeed, this capability transition represents the single biggest leap in Australian military capability since the Second World War,” Marles said.

An undated visualisation of what an SSN-AUKUS submarine might look like at sea, issued on March 13, 2023. BAE

Investing in Defence

It comes after the government delivered the federal budget for 2023-24, lifting defence spending in order to cover costs of the nuclear submarine program.

In proportion to GDP, defence spending will increase 0.2 percent above its current trajectory by 2032-33, Marles said in a media release.

“Australia is facing the most difficult strategic circumstances since the Second World War,” he said.

“To meet these challenges, we must invest in defence, including through the acceleration of important capabilities and activities, and the reprioritisation of those which are no longer fit for purpose.”

The budget papers reveal that about $4.5 billion across 10 years ($483 million a year) will go into establishing a new Australian Submarine Agency that will manage the nuclear submarine program.

It will also support 4,000 additional places at universities and higher education providers for courses that teach skills required for the nuclear submarine program, including STEM and management disciplines.

Over the next four years, $19 billion will also go into implementing priorities highlighted in April’s Defence Strategic Review.

This includes $9 billion for the submarine program, $4.1 billion for long-range missiles, and $3.8 billion for infrastructure in the northern defence base.

Soldiers from 1-1 Air Defense Artillery Battalion fires a Patriot missile during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 at Camp Growl in Queensland, Australia on July 16, 2021.
U.S. Army photo by Maj. Trevor Wild, 38th ADA BDE Public Affairs.

In total, military spending has jumped from $49 billion to $52.5 billion in the 2023-24 budget, exceeding $50 billion for the first time.

In terms of GDP, this represents an increased defence spending of 1.93 percent of GDP to 2.04 percent.

Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, said the government was creating local jobs in the defence industry as well as lifting defence capability, particularly long-range capability.

“Urgent reforms to defence procurement processes will deliver this capability faster, building on improvements already delivered to get projects of concern back on track,” he said.