Aukus laws will mean anywhere in Australia could be potential nuclear waste dump, critics say
Aukus laws will mean anywhere in Australia could be potential nuclear waste dump, critics say
www.theguardian.com
Aukus laws will mean anywhere in Australia could be potential nuclear waste dump, critics say
cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/23613321
Australia has agreed to take sole responsibility for the management, security and storage of all nuclear waste from its fleet of proposed nuclear-powered submarines, including the spent fuel from the submarines’ reactors – high-level nuclear waste that will be radioactive for millennia once the submarines are decommissioned from the early 2050s.
The spent fuel is also a nonproliferation risk: Australia’s nuclear submarines will run on highly enriched uranium which can be reprocessed to make nuclear weapons.
Seems like specifics should be worked out more in advance but getting your own nuclear subs as a country is an absolute game changer strategically.
Probably should have stuck with france but it's a bit late now lol.
It also makes us less independent and reliant on the UK and the US, both countries that are heading in a terrible direction. Likewise the strategic gain isn't that much, considering our only enemies would be America's enemies. If we must have nuclear subs, we should also build the capability to construct, maintain, and refuel them.
France's fault imo, they fucked around and changed the deal trying to move more manufacturing to France. If they hadn't tried to take advantage of us, we wouldn't have walked away.
I would think/hope that you guys could at least maintain the submarine independently. Your sailors went through the same training as the US ones do for operating. and as far as I understand it (which is better than most people) subs don't really get refueled. Carriers do but by the time a sub needed to refuel it wouldn't be worth while simply because the technology has advanced so far.
Hopefully more of the western world invests into its own navy because as it stands the US is such an overwhelming force that I understand why everyone is so hesitant to stand up against us.