Antinuclear

Nuclear power proposal ridiculed

N-power proposal ridiculed
The Bendigo Advertiser 27/07/2009
Last week the chairman of the Federal Government’s Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Dr Ziggy Switkowski, said Australia was the best-placed country in the world to use nuclear power…………………………..

Environmentalists have called his proposal “ridiculous” and unnecessary given the number of renewable, and cleaner, energy options available.

Bendigo Sustainability Group president Karen Corr said Mr Switkowski’s idea was irrelevant.

“It is a ridiculous plan to even be considering nuclear power,” she said.

“There is existing technology now for green energy and nuclearpower is not clean, there are so many problems with it, especially with the waste.”

Ms Corr said any nuclear power plant would take at least 20 years to build, which seemed pointless given that wind and solar projects were already running and could be installed relatively quickly.

Mount Alexander Sustainability Group chairman Jim Norris agreed.

“We are saying no to nuclear power, we do not see it as clean and safe, there are other solutions readily available,” he said.

“Nuclear power generation is not entirely renewable clean energy, mine site to power point energy costs are quite considerable; you have got to dig the uranium out of the ground then store it for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”

Mr Norris said the CSIRO’s Maine’s Power project was “absolute proof” that Australia did not need to rely on nuclear energy.

“Four major Castlemaine businesses will save between 30 and 40 per cent of their energy usage by means other than nuclear power by the end of 2010,” he said.

N-power proposal ridiculed – Local News – News – General – The Advertiser

July 27, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, uranium, Victoria | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, uranium