…More than 50 years ago, Australia was set to become the first nation south of the equator to build and operate a nuclear power plant to generate electricity. Sadly, this project and many other planned ventures connected with the technology and commercialisation of the global nuclear industry have not gone ahead. This incredible neglect has been largely due to poor education, the pressures of Australia’s hydrocarbon lobby, the pseudo-science of the “renewables” special interest groups and the politics of fear and risk beloved by Australia’s “radical greens”…
via Nuclear energy key to future. – Leslie Kemeny – theage.com.au
We have already gone well beyond the ‘future’ that was envisioned for a rosy nuclear power industry in fifty years past. The energy game has changed. The big new thing is the Smart Grid. Distributed renewable sources and energy storage at various scales will be interconnected and controlled through the Smart Grid to deliver a high quality of service. It’s not pseudo-science. This perspective is not a result of poor education. Anyone who thinks that nuclear power has nothing at all to do with the proliferation of nuclear weapons and that nuclear waste is harmless is far removed from geopolitical realities. Think about the way North Korea has been carrying on, the issue of nuclear power in Iran, the political turmoil in Pakistan with the nuclear stock pile they have, and the fact that Yucca Mountain is still not operational, etc. It’s not the radical greens who are concerned about nuclear power and the by-products of nuclear power stations and the uranium cycle. Poor education?
Yes, I think it is an education as well as a communication issue. Smart Grids have a tremendous future. Many people rightly expect a considerable impact from their continued development and deployment. Ditto with renewables, conservation, efficiency, etc.
The problem is that robust studies have repeatedly shown that very optimistic projections of their use are still not enough to cut emissions to the extent necessary and supply the energy required to drive a modern economy. These studies show that nuclear power has a role to play going forward. I’ve linked a report below from the International Energy Agency as well as a very interesting report that applies financial costs to the wastes related to the use of fossil fuel. This is an interesting report because it works to level the playing field with similar internalised costs for nuclear power. Take the costs of Yucca Mountain and the nuclear waste fund in the USA for example. Yucca has cost slightly over US $10 Billion to date. The waste management fund is at US $22 Billion after 40 years of nuclear power use in the USA. The independent report linked below pegs the cost due to the impact of fossil fuel at US $120 Billion per year (yes, per year…) just in the USA alone. And if you read the beginning of the linked report, you will see there are a number of adverse environmental and health impacts that are not included in that cost.
If Australia continues to pass on nuclear – fine. But it should be for the right reasons and after objective, detailed reviews of similar criteria in equal and balanced context. This review and subsequent discussion should be encouraged, or we should admit our failure to address Australia’s emissions – as evidenced by the two currently proposed fossil fuel energy projects in NSW (4,000 MWe total). If these plants are built, it will be a sad day for Australia and anyone working to reduce our emissions. This is particularly true if an equivalent amount of older and less efficient fossil fuelled generating capacity is not shutdown when the new plants are started or before. Such as ‘swap’ is not mentioned on the project website.
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/docs/weo2009/climate_change_excerpt.pdf
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12794
NSW Energy Projects (still time to comment if you wish – closes October 26)
http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=3327
http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=3325