JULIA Gillard and senior executives in Australia's uranium industry have insisted the major producer will withstand the Japanese nuclear crisis despite a share slump.

"What is happening in Japan doesn't have any impact on my thinking about uranium exports," the Prime Minister told Sky News.

"We do export uranium and we will continue to export uranium.

"Countries around the world will make their own choices about how they source their energy."

Although Australia uses no nuclear power, it is the world's third-ranking uranium producer behind Kazakhstan and Canada, exporting some 9600 tonnes of oxide concentrate annually, worth over $1.1 billion.

It also holds the world's largest reserves of uranium -- the most widely used nuclear fuel -- with 23 per cent of the total, according to the World Nuclear Association.

There are perceptions that the nuclear industry has been seriously hurt since the Fukushima No 1 plant in Japan was crippled earlier this month by a terrifying earthquake and tsunami.

The twin disasters knocked out the plant's cooling systems, sparking a series of explosions and fires. Authorities have struggled to keep fuel rods inside reactors and fuel storage containment pools under water to prevent a major radiation leak.

But Ms Gillard said the crisis would not affect Australian uranium sales. Japan is an important customer of Australia, as is China, which last week ordered safety inspections of its nuclear plants and suspended approval of new projects. China currently operates 13 nuclear plants and is building more than two dozen others -- estimated at 40 per cent of all plants being built worldwide.

Other major markets for Australian uranium oxide include the US and the European Union.

Shares in Australia's top uranium companies have been dumped heavily since the crisis unfolded, with the Rio Tinto majority-owned Energy Resources of Australia down 14.89 per cent last week.

Africa-focused Paladin Energy fared even worse, crashing 23.89 per cent, while Extract Resources plunged 34.15 per cent for the week.

Adding to the weak sentiment was the withdrawal by a subsidiary of Russia's nuclear energy agency of its $US1.16bn ($1.163bn) offer for Australia's Mantra Resources. The Russian Federal Atomic Agency's ARMZ uranium producer said in a statement that the Japanese nuclear crisis fundamentally altered the Australian company's long-term value.

But senior executives at Australia's top uranium companies insist the industry is resilient and will continue to grow.

Paladin chief executive John Borshoff said the sell-off was an over-reaction. "If you look at it in context, it is an industry that sits far ahead of any other in terms of safety and it has achieved that record since only starting virtually in 1970," he told the ABC's Inside Business on Sunday.

"There's this phobia about nuclear, that when anything happens it generates a reaction like nothing else.

"The investors are not quite understanding that the nuclear industry will survive. The industry will learn and become even safer.

"If you think Japan is going to give up nuclear, then I don't know what is going to replace that."

Australian Uranium Association chief executive Michael Angwin said the market reaction was predictable, but the industry would survive. "The factors which were driving the demand for Australia's uranium and the demand for nuclear power last Friday are still the same today," he said.