Time to have another look at nuclear power plants

GIVEN that our planet is around 5.45 billion years old and recorded history about 10,000 it is understandable that there are sceptics who question the cause and effect of climate change.

Translate that historical comparison into seconds against years and you can see the point.

Regardless of your position on the issue there are some realities we must all face.

We take energy for granted. A mere flick of a switch to banish the dark, power our industry, communications, health, keep us cool or warm and entertain us.

Then we have the fuels to power transport for people, goods and our food. Energy is the heartbeat of our economy and therefore our society.

Overshadowing it is the reality that everything comes at a cost.

Energy comes at a cost which is increasingly becoming unaffordable for many including industry and small business both of which hold the keys to current and future job prospects.

The claim that renewable energy is becoming cheaper is not reflected in skyrocketing energy bills. Solar, wind, thermal and wave energy come at a high cost.

They also have their limitations, reliability, efficient and cost effective storage being three of them. While other competing industrial nations increase their energy output and find more efficient ways to burn our coal, we give away our economic advantage by deriding it, increasing the cost of our exports. In the process we also export our jobs.

There is another alternative we deny ourselves. Our universe is driven by nuclear power, albeit fusion rather than fission.

We have abundant resources for fission nuclear power plants, but the hangovers of the past and unfounded fear continue to reject that possibility.

No CO2 is a by-product of nuclear waste. On one of the most stable continents on the planet, you would think we could find places to build these plants and store that waste safely.

Ruling with our hearts rather than our heads could very well bring about the socio-economic and environmental tragedy we are blindly led to fear.

BOB JANSSEN GOLD COAST