Don’t deny us nuclear
I WRITE to challenge the views put forward that nuclear energy has no place in Australia’s future, that nuclear energy “makes no economic sense,” and nuclear power will never be viable.
The nuclear deniers have been around for a long time and despite all the advances in nuclear technologies, cuttingedge design advances by scientists, developments being achieved by other countries, they remain steadfast.
These modern-day Luddites are not new to society. They have a tradition to uphold. For clarity, a Luddite is a person who out of strong beliefs, but ignorance of the facts, opposes technology advancements.
If past Luddites had their way, we would still live in the Dark Ages. If the present nuclear-denying Luddites prevail, Australians will pay a very high future economic price.
The group who attended a meeting on nuclear energy was criticised. It was stated that it consisted of five business people. I attended that meeting.
Excluding Phillip Thompson MP, there were 16 people who attended. This meeting was held to express support for the recommendations made in the recent Parliamentary Committee Report into nuclear energy.
The committee recommended that nuclear energy should be considered as part of our future energy mix.
Phillip Thompson undertook to pass on to the Minister the motion passed by the meeting supporting the Parliamentary Committee’s recommendations.
The committee’s well balanced report was discussed at the meeting. I have read the report – how many nuclear deniers have read the report?
The report recommends that Australia focuses on:
• Delivering affordable and reliable energy while fulfilling international emissions reduction obligations:
• Participating in international nuclear research; and
• Acquiring commercially viable nuclear technologies when they are proven.
The report stated that we need to think about the next 50 years, not the next five years.
New generation small modular reactors (SMR), thorium-fuelled reactors, were identified as possible solutions for our long-term electricity demands. These SMRS are a