Australia in the Atomic Age: Menzies' Legacy and Nuclear's Potential

Description

Invited talk, Menzies' legacy and nuclear's unrealised potential, Robert Menzies Institute Annual Conference, 'The Menzies Ascendency: Implementing a Liberal Agenda and Consolidating Gains, 1954-1961', University of Melbourne, 24 November. 

Subject

Menzies embraced the atomic age rather more enthusiastically than many other Australians. He envisaged Australia’s substantial uranium and thorium reserves providing Australia with a source of clean, reliable, and affordable energy that would ultimately replace fossil fuels. But he also knew that “what is best advertised tends to be more popularly understood”. Despite the opening of a nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in 1958 to “test materials for their suitability in use in future power reactors”, the purpose of Australia’s first nuclear reactor was gradually reduced to producing medical radioisotopes and conducting research. Menzies faced similar concerns about the safety of nuclear reactors, the propensity for conflating nuclear industries with nuclear weapons, and storing nuclear waste to those concerns political leaders face today. But with Australia’s strategic defence capabilities enhanced by nuclear-powered submarines through the AUKUS agreement, and the absence of a ‘Plan B’ for a carbon-neutral future, the unrealised potential of Australia’s atomic age has manifested into the very lack of skills Menzies was concerned about in 1962. The Lucas Heights facility was more than just a case of hubris, or “what are they doing here that can't be better done elsewhere?” It provided opportunities for training Australian scientists and sharing and transferring nuclear-related research and knowledge. At the same time, recently declassified documents suggest that Menzies aimed to develop Australia’s nuclear capability amid eleven years of atomic weapons tests conducted by Britain in Australia. While much has been written about “nuclear colonialism” following the Royal Commission into the tests, very little attention has been given to the unrealised potential of Australia’s nuclear industry envisaged during the atomic age. This paper, then, traces the development and subsequent stagnation of the nuclear industry in Australia, with a focus on Menzies’ legacy and its influence on energy and defence policy today.

Period24 Nov 2023

Media coverage

1

Media coverage

  • TitleAustralia in the Atomic Age: Menzies' legacy and nuclear's potential
    Degree of recognitionNational
    Media name/outletADH TV
    Media typeWeb
    Duration/Length/Size33' 46''
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    Date24/11/23
    DescriptionMenzies' legacy and nuclear's unrealised potential, Robert Menzies Institute Annual Conference, 'The Menzies Ascendency: Implementing a Liberal Agenda and Consolidating Gains, 1954-1961', University of Melbourne, 24 November. 
    Producer/AuthorRobert Menzies Institute
    PersonsMichael de Percy