Leaked Slides Suggest ANU’s Support of AUKUS, Proposing Nuclear Systems Studies

By Nuria Olive, Hannah Farrow and Ryan Bourke

Despite ANU previously indicating a lack of formal involvement with AUKUS, slides leaked by a whistleblower demonstrate the university’s support for the partnership.

The AUKUS partnership aims to build nuclear-powered submarines and respond to rising security threats in the Indo-Pacific region, namely China. 

The leaked slides propose the implementation of a new Nuclear Systems major and minor for the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Engineering (R&D) (Honours) degrees. The slides state a degree in nuclear engineering could not practically be introduced under ANU’s current course offerings due to “too many electives”. 

An ANU spokesperson told Observer in April that “ANU has no formal relationship or involvement with AUKUS”. Despite this, the leaked slides indicate that ANU had already “consulted” the Department of Defence, The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), and the Australian Submarine Corporation, as of April 28.

ANUSA Education Officer Beatrice Tucker posted the leaked slides on ANU Schmidtposting – a popular Facebook page among ANU students. Tucker did not reveal who the whistleblower was. Speaking to Observer on Friday, Tucker also alleged that ANU was “already in the process of ratifying” the courses.

In the post, Tucker has expressed their condemnation of the AUKUS nuclear submarine proposal as “it is driving a dangerous arms race in the region and brings us closer to a disastrous U.S. led war on China which would threaten the world with a catastrophic nuclear conflict.”

Tucker spoke to ANU’s course cuts including “renewable energy and biomedical engineering majors, both being far more urgent, necessary and socially useful for our future than a Nuclear Engineering major created to service the drive to war.”

The reasons cited in the slides for the proposal of a Nuclear Systems major and minor include the Australian Defence Force’s need for approximately 1900 experts to support AUKUS in the next ten years. The slides also suggest that the ANU has “been named as one of the first places to offer educational programs in support of this program”. 

The courses that would be introduced under the Nuclear Systems major are:

• Engineering Nuclear Systems
• Fundamentals of Nuclear Radiation
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle
• Advanced Reactor Science 

ANU currently offers a Masters of Science in Nuclear Science, which ranks as the first in Australia for physics and astronomy. Since 2021, ANU also participates in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Undergraduate Scholarship scheme funded by the Department of Defence. The scholarship provides successful applicants with $20,000 a year and a fellowship at Defence.

In a May 17 article in The Advertiser (and thereon in ANU Reporter), ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt spoke to the importance of commencing the process of training nuclear experts in the immediate future, including in the fields of “nuclear physics, engineering, the law, policy, security and human resources”. 

In this same article, Schmidt put forward the idea of an “AUKUS pathways program” in which government and universities collaborate to provide students a pathway to qualifications relating to AUKUS, “and then progress to a position in Defence working on AUKUS programs”.

This is not the first time Schmidt has expressed his support for an AUKUS pathways program. In an address to the Submarine Institute of Australia Conference in November 2022, Schmidt expressed “the challenge can’t be left to Defence alone” and they “will need a new approach to partnering with the universities who will deliver the training”.

There have been significant protests against ANU’s involvement with AUKUS, with staff and students coordinating speak-outs in April over university involvement. 

What is AUKUS? 

AUKUS is a partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It aims to commit to an “international system that respects human rights, the rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes free from coercion– a commitment whose importance has only grown in response to Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful invasion of Ukraine.”

Announced in September 2021, the partnership aims to deliver Australia “world-class capability” and become one of seven countries to operate nuclear-powered submarines.

AUKUS has received bipartisan support from both the previous Liberal, and current Labor governments. 

What are the Concerns with AUKUS?

ANUSA has repeatedly expressed opposition to “all AUKUS related activities on campus”, as well as involvement from any universities represented by Universities Australia. 

However, the 2023 Lowry Institute Poll reflected that broader Australian support has not shifted substantially. The proportion of Australians who are strongly against the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines also remains steady from last year, sitting at 10%. However, the proportion who are strongly in favour of the plan has dropped by seven percentile points to 26% in 2023.

General concerns also reside with how AUKUS may “tie Australia to the US and its foreign policy while also reinforcing America’s tether to Australia’s security.”

A petition was created by the ANU Education Activism Network in 2022 to advocate against AUKUS. They demand that “ANU refuse to participate in the Nuclear Science Academic Program.” The petition also calls “on the Federal Government to scrap the program altogether, with the money put instead towards increasing Commonwealth funding for universities”. 

“This would be a small step towards replacing a fraction of the money that has been ripped out of the sector in recent years.”

When asked if the Department of Defence was financing the convening of these courses, an ANU spokesperson told Observer that “ANU receives funding from a range of sources, including national research grant programs, government departments, students, donors and business.” 

When asked how long the ANU had been in talks with the Defence over AUKUS, the spokesperson said that “ANU has conducted training and research in nuclear science for more than 70 years…applying it to everything from medical treatment to marine conservation”.

“We stand ready to apply this unique expertise to the stewardship required to safely engage in the nuclear-powered submarine program under the AUKUS agreement.”

The ANU spokesperson also stated, “now that Australia has signed the historic AUKUS deal on nuclear-powered submarines, ANU is well equipped to train the next generation of nuclear scientists to help safely build and maintain these complex machines and to fill the gap in our workforce.” 

The statement also noted that “we [ANU] stand ready to apply this unique expertise to the stewardship required to safely engage in the nuclear-powered submarine program under the AUKUS agreement.” 

Observer also asked ANU whether international students would be barred from taking these courses in order to remain compliant with national security regulations. 

The spokesperson said that “relevant courses are available in all of these disciplines for students who want to know more about nuclear issues from a variety of these perspectives – our aim is to encourage informed debate.”

Graphics by Will Novak

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