Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says free nuclear power could be offered to residents living close to a reactor to help build support for the controversial technology, as an analysis pinpoints which Australian towns are best placed to host a nuclear plant.

But the pro-nuclear push by Coalition backbenchers may be losing momentum after one colleague dismissed it as a "distraction" and a senior minister said the government had "no desire to go down that path".

Australia's only nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney. It does not produce nuclear energy but is used to produce medical radioisotopes and for other purposes.

Federal and state laws prohibit the development of a domestic nuclear power industry. However, federal MPs Keith Pitt and James McGrath are pushing for a parliamentary inquiry into the technology's feasibility in Australia and the NSW Nationals last month passed a motion supporting nuclear energy.

A leading lobby group for the technology, the Australian Nuclear Association, has identified dozens of potential sites for nuclear reactors – those with stable geology and proximity to the existing grid, transport and water. The locations include those in Mr Joyce's New England electorate in northern NSW and Liberal Ken O'Dowd's Queensland seat of Flynn. Both MPs have backed a nuclear inquiry.