An expanded public service agency would be crucial to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's nuclear energy plan.
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Mr Dutton's plan to build seven nuclear reactors in regional areas includes an expanded Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), which currently regulates nuclear medicine.
The expanded - and possibly amalgamated - agency would be tasked with licensing and regulating civilian nuclear power stations, if Mr Dutton wins the next federal election.
"ARPANSA will have its resources increased to prepare to license the establishment projects," a briefing note released by Mr Dutton's office said.
Mr Dutton would need to amend the ARPANS Bill that established the agency to allow it to license and regulate civilian nuclear facilities, including power stations.
ARPANSA is currently housed within the Department of Health and Ageing and employs just 155 public servants.
The briefing note said a Dutton government would seek advice on "the merits of regulatory consolidation of ARPANSA" and the even smaller Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO), which is currently within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
ARPANSA has previously flagged that it will require a significant injection of resources in order for its regulation of a nuclear submarine program to be viable.
Mr Dutton referenced the AUKUS deal to acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the United States and United Kingdom, signed by then prime minister Scott Morrison in 2021, when responding to questions about the safety aspect of operating nuclear power plants.
"What will happen in Osborne?" he said, referencing the South Australian shipyard where the nuclear-powered AUKUS submarine fleet will be built.
"There'll be a reactor there, where submariners in Australian uniforms will be sleeping in the submarine alongside the reactor in a safe way."
Likewise, he said, the submarine program would entail the need to safely dispose of nuclear waste.
Asked about potential community concerns about nuclear waste disposal and the safety of building reactors nearby, Mr Dutton said: "The waste of the small modular reactor is about a coke can size per year. It's stored on site, under our proposal, until the end of life of that asset."
As the nation's primary authority on radiation protection and nuclear safety, ARPANSA has played a role in advising the federal government on the expected impact of the AUKUS deal.
The primary stewardship of the nuclear submarines program is with the multi-agency Nuclear Powered Submarine Taskforce, led by the Department of Defence.
The Coalition's nuclear energy plan would also include the establishment of a Nuclear Energy Coordinating Authority and a government business enterprise called Affordable Energy Australia.
Affordable Energy Australia would be financed by the federal government through a combination of debt and equity.
Through its partnership arrangements with experienced nuclear companies, the government would own, develop and operate the establishment projects.