The federal government has declined to join a pact with allies, including AUKUS partners, to accelerate the development of civilian nuclear energy because Australia has no plans to adopt the technology domestically.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles told parliament on Tuesday that the government would not sign an agreement the UK and US governments announced overnight.

"For Australia, pursuing a path of nuclear energy would represent pursuing the single-most expensive electricity option on the planet," Mr Marles said.

"Because we do not have a civil nuclear industry, this agreement does not apply to us."

The shift in Australia's involvement in the agreement comes amid growing political sensitivity between Labor and Coalition over Opposition leader Peter Dutton's promise to develop a domestic nuclear power industry.

Labor, led by Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, who is attending the UN climate summit in Baku, is vehemently opposed to the technology, saying it would mean coal power emissions would continue for longer — until the nuclear option became viable a decade or more from now.

The British government announced the plan — which it originally said Australia was "expected" to join — at the COP29 Summit.

The goal is to pool research and development funding among member states to "speed up development of advanced nuclear technologies".

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and US Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk are leading the charge to expand on a commitment at last year's climate summit in Dubai with 31 countries to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

Mr Dutton slammed the federal government's decision as an "international embarrassment".

"We know that the US and UK expected Australia to sign up to the nuclear agreement," he said.

The new agreement will replace an existing cooperation forum between advanced economies including Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, China and Switzerland that will expire in February. Australia joined that forum when it was established in 2017.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) accused the government of abandoning international partners because of Labor's "outdated thinking" that "continues to prioritise politics over progress".

"These are the same allies we are partnering with on nuclear-powered submarines, yet we're refusing to join them in adding a zero-emissions technology to our energy mix that could benefit Australia and global decarbonisation efforts," MCA chief Tania Constable said.

"Worse still, the government argues nuclear energy would take too long, while now actively ensuring Australia is excluded from an international forum designed to speed up development and innovation.

"This guarantees we will fall even further behind the rest of the world."

The new arrangement, known as the Generation IV International Forum, will no longer include Russia.

Mr Miliband said: "Nuclear will play a vital role in our clean energy future."

"That is why we are working closely with our allies to unleash the potential of cutting-edge nuclear technology," he said.

"Advanced nuclear technology will help decarbonise industry by providing low-carbon heat and power, supporting new jobs and investment here in the UK."

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek described nuclear power as an "energy fantasy" that would take 20 years and add $1,200 to household electricity bills while "keeping coal in our system for much longer".

"And because of that [it] will add 1.7 billion tonnes of extra carbon dioxide pollution to our atmosphere," she said.

"So we have a real choice — a slow, risky expensive transition to nuclear, or a fast certain transition to renewables that is already happening under us."