Why shifting to nuclear-powered submarines will be ‘a hugely complex task’

A former submariner and independent South Australian senator says it’ll be “a hugely complex task” for Australia to switch from conventional submarines to nuclear-powered ones.

It comes after the nuclear submarines were flagged in a landmark new security deal with the US and UK.

South Australian Senator Rex Patrick says “there are just so many things that we haven’t looked at”.

“There’s the fact that we don’t have a nuclear industry,” he told Neil Mitchell.

Mr Patrick says that means Australia won’t have nuclear industry experience to fall back on if anything goes wrong.

“We don’t have a nuclear safety regulatory regime,” he said.

“The idea of a nuclear submarine turning up in Port Phillip Bay, or having reactors sitting alongside Garden Island in Sydney, or indeed on the hard-stands where they’re being built in Adelaide, no one has even socialised that sort of idea with the Australian population.”

Press PLAY below to hear why it’ll be a “hugely complex task” for Australia to transition to nuclear submarines