The acquisition of nuclear submarines will not lead to Australia developing nuclear weapons, according to a nuclear engineering expert from Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW).
The comments come after, in September 2021, Australia signed a trilateral security pact with the United States and United Kingdom (AUKUS), the first major initiative of which is to equip Australia with at least eight nuclear-powered submarines to enhance the nation’s ability to deter threats and maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
This has led some critics to question whether the deal flies in the face of Australia’s long-standing commitment to reject nuclear weapons, which has been in place since 1970, when Australia signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons….