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Any sub driver knows that hanging around narrow straits and channels means no place to run if they get located. US subs may be quiet and hard to find on passive (listen-only) sonar, but active(pinging) sonar is another matter entirely. In confined, shallow waters with no thermocline layer to deflect sound China might find hunting these subs to be like shooting fish in a barrel. Just park a destroyer on top of each sub, and watch them head home with their tails between their legs.

The US/Australian intent in any war would have to be to cut China off from trade by scaring away all 3ed party owned shipping. In other words, WWI/WWII style unrestricted submarine warfare would have to be at least threatened. To use the subs to block an attack by China on Tiawan would require different distribution of where to send the subs, so that does not appear to be a motive.

Nuclear power on warships is NUTS, since warships ultimately are made to sink each other. Lots of "fun" dealing with the aftereffects of sunken nuclear-powered anything.

Australia BTW cannot cite human rights as reason for war with China, given their extreme COVID lockdown policies enforced by police against individuals. If Australia wanted to do something useful with subs, they should have used them ten years ago to enforce the ban on whaling in the Southern Ocean. Nobody would have dared hunt whales there if catching a "fish"(torpedo) instead was a possible result. Diesel-electric is plenty for that kind of work, no nukes required.