Australia weighs nuclear power pivot

Sensitive issue: A copper, uranium, gold and silver processing plant near the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. In 2011, 62% of Australians said they were opposed to nuclear power. — AFP

CANBERRA: Australia, one of the world’s last major nuclear power holdouts, is debating a pivot that could see the country end its decades-long resistance to the energy source.

With less than a year until Australia heads to the polls, the Liberal National Coalition parties are making nuclear power a central plank of their policy platform to oust the current Labour government, driven in part by their historic opposition to renewables and by recent polling that shows more Australians are open to nuclear energy than ever before.