I didn't really know where to post this, I chose here because the current push to acquire nuclear weapons is all about the security challenge of a belligerent and rising China - and a bit about a declining and wobbly USA, I promise I won't say anything about Donald Trump. There has been a long standing rumour, without a shred of evidence, that we actually had a small secret stockpile of nukes. The Lowy have an article that discusses previous attempts of the land of Oz to acquire Nukes.
www.lowyinstitute.org
I couldn't possibly think the LNP new found interest in nuclear power has anything to do with obtaining nukes. Then I read this:
In 1969, Gorton proclaimed that “the time for this nation to enter the atomic age has now arrived” and committed to the construction of a 500-megawatt reactor at Jervis Bay. Publicly selling this as a measure to bolster energy self-sufficiency and build industrial capacity, Gorton and other advocates had their eye on the potential military applications: Gorton was to admit in 1999 that, “We were interested in this thing because it could provide electricity to everybody and it could, if you decided later on, make an atomic bomb”.
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Thinking the “unthinkable” again? | Lowy Institute
Security motivations alone rarely explain decisions to “go nuclear”. Australia’s history on the question is complex.
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I couldn't possibly think the LNP new found interest in nuclear power has anything to do with obtaining nukes. Then I read this:
In 1969, Gorton proclaimed that “the time for this nation to enter the atomic age has now arrived” and committed to the construction of a 500-megawatt reactor at Jervis Bay. Publicly selling this as a measure to bolster energy self-sufficiency and build industrial capacity, Gorton and other advocates had their eye on the potential military applications: Gorton was to admit in 1999 that, “We were interested in this thing because it could provide electricity to everybody and it could, if you decided later on, make an atomic bomb”.