Tweny five nuclear reactors to power East Coast

Twenty-five nuclear reactors, mainly on the east coast, could be producing a third of Australia's electricity needs by the year 2050, a landmark report said today.

The cost of nuclear power would be substantially higher than fossil fuels, but the attachment of a price on carbon emissions could make the nuclear energy option viable, the prime minister's Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review's report found.

It also found that there were no insurmountable obstacles to developing an enrichment industry that would add billions of dollars in export value to Australia's reserves of uranium.

The panel's draft report says Australia is so geologically suitable for a nuclear waste dump that one could be sited almost anywhere.

Furthermore, the report found that despite nuclear weapons proliferation being a critical global issue, Australia's increased involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle would not change the risks.

The Government is seeking responses to the report by 12 December with the aim to have the report completed by the new year.