Assuming that we get the engineering base sorted to keep them running, the navy are going to have a hell of a time crewing them. Nuclear subs are all bigger than D/E... The Virginia class has a crew of ~120 while the Collins has a crew of ~60. As I understand it, the navy struggled to keep more than a single boat crewed at any given time... how are they going to manage getting getting twice the number of sailors from an even smaller pool of technical specialist required to run the boats. I can't see how this project will work without a decent local civil nuclear industry. Perhaps this is even a first salvo in an unspoken, long term strategic plan to develop a civil nuclear capability in Aus. I'd fully support the development of a civil nuclear industry here given that we will need to transition away from coal one way or another in the future and we have a giant pile of uranium sitting a few hundred ks north of Adelaide.
Indeed, I'm going to predict that a nuclear power station will be proposed for SA in the next few years, and that a civilian nuclear technology hub will be built somewhere north of Pt Augusta..
