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Down Under
State Leader Suggests Australia Turn To Nuclear Power
2005-06-04
Australia's most powerful state leader broke a long-held taboo Thursday by suggesting the country turn to nuclear power as a way to ensure energy supplies and combat global warming. Premier Bob Carr of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, said waiting for alternative energy sources which are still years away was not a sufficient response to the environmental damage being done by burning fossil fuels to create electricity.

Carr, from the center-left Labor Party which has led opposition to nuclear power in the past, said atomic energy could be the answer to global warming, much of which is caused by greenhouse emissions from burning fossil fuels. "The planet is warming up and we need some new energy source until wind and solar and hydrogen become available," he said. "I just think the world's got to debate whether uranium-derived power is more dangerous than coal.
To the extent that one really believes that global warming is real, one should push for as much nuclear generation of electricity as possible.

Australia currently has only one nuclear reactor, located in Sydney and which is used for research purposes only.

Carr's surprise remarks drew immediate fire from environmental groups. "Debate on the merits of nuclear power ended in 1986 when a reactor at the Chernobyl power station exploded, exposing the region to radiation levels 100 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb," said Ian Cohen, a New South Wales lawmaker from the Greens party.
But those were Russians and Ukes running an inherently dangerous design -- oh right, the details aren't important to you.
"There is a huge propaganda push on by the nuclear industry right now to justify nuclear power as a solution to global warming, and Bob Carr is being sucked in," he said.

Carr's proposal came amid a national debate over whether Australia should step up mining and export of its vast uranium reserves, the biggest in the world. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer revealed to parliament earlier this week that authorities were considering expanding the export of uranium, including to China and to southeast Asian nations considering a shift to nuclear power.

Downer's remarks also sparked protests from environmental groups. "The Minister for Resources (Ian Macfarlane) has said the government wants to export 'as much uranium as we possibly can', despite the environmental and nuclear proliferation dangers it poses," said Greens senator Kerry Nettle. "To facilitate the expansion of the most dangerous industry on the planet is irresponsible, putting dollars before sense," she said.

"The expansion of the nuclear energy industry will act as a disincentive for government to invest in renewable energy whilst simultaneously increasing the level of radioactive waste in the world.
Except of course that 'renewable' energy isn't available today or tomorrow. The Green recipe = poverty for everyone except the Green leaders.
"It's an environmentally disastrous decision."
Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042

#2  Nuclear now, g*damnit it. We've lost 25 years in this country and can't afford to waste another day in getting these projects underway.
Posted by: thibaud (aka lex)   2005-06-04 04:52  

#1  I don't see Australia building nuclear power plants in the fireeable future, but you never know. The Left-greens have painted themselves into a corner over global warming. And have loudly proclaimed it is causing the Australian climate to become drier. A factually untrue statement (in fact the governments own scientific agency says the NSW climate is getting wetter), but facts are not an issue with these people. Droughts are a regular feature of most agricultural areas in Oz, so even while false the drying climate claim is an easy sell and various government agencies repeat it.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-06-04 04:43  

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