The government has insisted it has no intention of introducing nuclear power to Australia after releasing a paper that states the technology continues to be an option for “future reliable energy”.

An issues paper released by the Department of Industry, which will inform an upcoming energy white paper, states that the need for low-carbon fuels means that nuclear is an option that can be “readily dispatched into the market”.

The UK, the paper notes, has announced plans for new nuclear power generation, although Germany is looking to shut down its nuclear capacity in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

“A growing area of global interest is in the use of small modular reactors, which have the potential to reduce the cost uncertainties and construction timeframes associated with current generation reactor designs,” the paper states. “These reactors could be factory built, highly standardised and even used in locations without advanced infrastructure.

“The smaller size of the reactors may allow for more flexible deployment, making nuclear electricity available to isolated areas or countries with small or distributed electricity grid systems that cannot support conventional large-scale nuclear power.”

The paper adds that while the government recognises that the cost of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, will continue to fall, it is seeking comments on how “the uptake of high-efficiency, low-emissions intensity electricity generation can be progressed”.

While nuclear power isn’t as carbon intensive as coal, there has been longstanding bipartisan opposition to developing the energy source in Australia. The Howard government banned domestic nuclear energy, despite Australia having some of the largest uranium deposits in the world.

A spokeswoman for the industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, told Guardian Australia the government’s position was unchanged despite the paper’s seemingly warm words for nuclear.

“The government’s energy white paper process will be comprehensive. However, the Coalition has no plans to pursue nuclear energy,” she said.

“Nuclear energy won’t become part of Australia’s energy mix without bipartisan and community support.”

The risks of the processes involved in nuclear energy have been highlighted recently by the spill at the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu. The incident, anti-nuclear activists claim, is a stark reminder of why Australia should remain nuclear-free.

“I think the Coalition is trying to keep the door open to the option of nuclear, although it can see politically and economically it doesn’t add up,” said Dave Sweeney, nuclear free campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

“There’s no doubt there are people within the Coalition who would want to embrace nuclear. We are aware of that and that sort of ideology concerns us, so we aren’t complacent. But it’s quite unthinkable that any private company would want to fund nuclear in Australia due to the huge start-up cost.

“The government doesn’t want to critique nuclear because it raises the question ‘why then are we digging it up and having spills in the Kakadu?’. But there are huge political and economic hurdles to bringing in nuclear power. The numbers just don’t stack up, in dollars or votes.”