The questions of nuclear technology in Japan and Australia

A comparative analysis of energy policies, military capabilities and political attitudes towards nuclear power

Abstract

Australia and Japan share historically unique ties to nuclear technology. From the first British atomic bomb tests conducted on Australian soil to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), large parts of Australian civil society have shown a hardline stance against nuclear weaponry. Echoing this, Japan, as the only country that was bombed twice directly with atomic weapons, shares a complex system of societal pushback, along with a highly politicised nuclear policy. The Japanese attitude regarding nuclear energy is economically pragmatic, though overshadowed by the 2011 Fukushima accident, while in Australia, plans to construct nuclear power plants remain only ideas. This paper aims to examine how Japan and Australia share their attitudes on the issues of pursuing nuclear energy solutions and military technologies while balancing national and economic interests, green policies, non-proliferation commitments and civil society pushback.