No imported nuclear waste

Prime Minister John Howard has ruled out taking nuclear waste from foreign countries, quashing a politically damaging issue he discussed with the United States earlier this year.

Howard said he did not want Australia used as a repository for other countries' nuclear problems, sparking accusations from Labor that he is interfering in the inquiry he ordered into nuclear energy.

An issues paper, released by nuclear task force head Ziggy Switkowski, said the inquiry would evaluate whether there was a business case for Australia to take radioactive waste from overseas. But the Prime Minister insisted: "We don't have that sort of thing in mind. I'm not going to have this country used as some kind of repository for other peoples' nuclear problems... Waste problems."

In May, Howard met US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman in Washington to discuss the idea of nuclear leasing, which would see Australia take back nuclear waste from countries to which it exported uranium. The Americans had been considering the idea, but Howard appeared to rule it out soon after the talks.

However, critics remained sceptical and believed the Prime Minister was still considering an international waste dump in the outback.