Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile is promising all local communities will be given a vote before any nuclear reactor is built in their area.
Mr Vaile's promise is in stark contradiction to John Howard's stance on where the power stations would be built.
The Prime Minister says those decisions are up to commercial investors and not the Government.
Mr Vaile supports the Coalition's push for nuclear energy and uranium sales, but says Australians who oppose nuclear reactors should be able to vote against it in local plebiscites.
Shadow Environment Minister Peter Garrett says it shows nuclear power is a political risk.
"They know that Australians don't want to have radioactive waste in their electorates," he said.
"They don't want to have nuclear reactors in and near their homes and schools."
Labor opposes the building of any nuclear reactors in Australia.