Nuclear power reactors could be operating in Australia within 10 to 12 years, an inquiry has heard, if the government follows the example of the United Arab Emirates rather than Europe.
Two international nuclear consultants laid out that timetable at the Nuclear Power Generation inquiry in Canberra on Thursday, saying Australia's existing nuclear safety authority could prepare laws to allow the technology within three years.
But their account contradicted earlier evidence from the Australian Energy Regulator, which warned it could take as long as 10 years just to create a regulatory framework for the technology.
