A Tasmanian port has been given the green light to host nuclear-powered vessels after being verified by the national safety agency.
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A quarterly report by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said staff completed work at the Hobart port to ensure it could host such vessels and respond in an emergency.
Staff also travelled to Western Australia for a visit by two US nuclear submarines.
ARPANSA said it is helping oversee arrangements "to ensure the Australian public and the environment is safe during visits from nuclear-powered vessels".
American and British nuclear submarines will begin more frequent rotations and visits through Australian ports as part of the alliance known as AUKUS.
Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation said on an "economic self-interest level" there was a strong case for Tasmania to shun nuclear submarines.
"It is known for its food, tourism and clean air, art and cultures - none of these are helped by elevated radioactive risk," he said.
The City of Hobart council has previously expressed an anti-nuclear stance, with the lord mayor joining the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Australian submarines to be acquired under the AUKUS pact will be nuclear-powered but not nuclear-armed.
The government maintains the nuclear-propelled submarines would be safe and not open the door to a civil nuclear industry.
ARPANSA's advisory body told its chief executive the nation had a "unique opportunity to establish a regulatory framework that meets Australia's international obligations".
In an October 2022 letter to CEO Gillian Hirth, released on the ARPANSA website earlier this year, the advisory council chair stressed the importance of transparency, independent oversight, effective regulation and appropriate training and safety principles.
Chair Roger Allison wrote that the principles were fundamental to a future regulatory framework that protects the public and enables the effective regulation of nuclear-powered submarines.
"It is important that the framework does not allow 'national security' to mask inadequate radiation safety protection of the Australian public, weaken regulatory authority or inhibit transparency on matters of Australian public safety," Mr Allison wrote.
The Albanese government established the Australian Submarine Agency to oversee the nuclear submarine program from cradle to grave, including how nuclear waste was managed.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the government had not yet adequately addressed the nuclear waste issue.
Australian Associated Press
