AUSTRALIA had been urged to embrace nuclear power and impose a carbon tariff on goods imported from nations that have not priced carbon, instead of compensating trade-exposed industries.

Chris Llewellyn Smith, the director of energy research at Oxford University and one of the world's leading experts on nuclear fusion, will urge scientists at a Melbourne conference today to press the case for nuclear power in the face of government reluctance and public fears. 

The former chairman of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a massive project being built in the south of France to test the viability of industrial scale nuclear fusion, says Australia must include nuclear as part of its energy mix if it is to wean itself off carbon-intensive coal.

Sir Chris conceded nuclear power was a "difficult sell" in the wake of the Japanese tsunami and Fukushima plant meltdown but argued the disaster had shown that nuclear energy, while dangerous, could be safely managed. "The fact is the nuclear accident in Japan hasn't killed anybody," Sir Chris said. "There may be one or two people who die of cancer but we are talking very small numbers if any."

Of the 15,844 confirmed dead and 3450 still missing from last year's tsunami, no deaths have been directly attributed to the radioactive material released after the ageing plant was swamped by seawater. "Nuclear has to be treated with great respect because it is intrinsically dangerous," Sir Chris said. "But I would argue it is actually less dangerous than burning coal, which is killing people with air pollution.

"The track record of nuclear power is very good but it is hard to convince people of that because they are frightened of things they don't understand and they can't see, and the history associated with nuclear weapons." Sir Chris applauded the Gillard government's decision to price carbon.

But rather than compensating industries competing against goods produced without the burden of a carbon tax, Australia should charge a levy on those goods. "If Australia introduces a price on carbon, which it has, this will put up the cost of manufacturing in Australia," he said.

"It puts your industry at a disadvantage against any country without a carbon tax."

The All-Energy 2012 conference is being held today and tomorrow at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Call to take nuclear to heart, impose carbon tariffs