Antinuclear

Australia too dry for nuclear, but ready for renewables

nuclear power is based on a finite resource and requires enormous amounts of cooling water, limiting possible locations within Australia to our already crowded coastlines. Dry cooling or hybrid systems do exist but are not suited to hot climates such as ours…..

…[Australia should ]  be growing a new industry with the potential to generate value for the nation through the export of renewable energy expertise and technology to a carbon-constrained world……

Too late for nuclear – The Drum (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Vassilios Agelidis 7 Nov 10, ………..the course of events in Australia up till now means that, even if we opted for nuclear tomorrow, it will not be possible any time soon, and the reality is it should not be pursued at all because it’s simply not our best option……
It will take more than a decade, at the very least, to develop the capabilities we would need before we could even begin building……

There are enormous economic implications in any energy strategy we pursue. Substantial investment has to be made and what makes sense is investing where Australia has demonstrated leadership: renewable energy technologies. Australian researchers have made significant advances in renewable energy and are global leaders in some fields. UNSW’s Professor Martin Green, for example, leads a research team that holds the world record for silicon solar cell efficiency, and solar cell technologies developed at UNSW have been commercialised around the world, generating millions of dollars in licensing income.

Other countries have pursued their strengths: Denmark, for example, recently dismissed nuclear as part of their energy mix and will continue to invest in wind energy, a field in which the Danes are international leaders.

Australia has an abundance of energy options: gas, wind, solar, wave and geothermal, as well as uranium. We have many options, but our future energy mix must be carefully considered, based on scientific analysis and serious public debate.
A new report from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering considers the new energy technology choices available to the nation and finds nuclear may be cost-competitive with wind or a combination gas turbine-and-carbon capture model (CCGT-CCS) in 20 to 30 years time. By 2040, it rates CCGT-CCS, geothermal, solar thermal and nuclear as cost-competitive.

But the ATSE considers each of these technologies only in isolation. A viable and realistic model, however, will be based on integrated renewable energy sources and energy storage systems working together in a complementary, hybrid system. Research at our Centre for Energy Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA) is focused on this solution. New-generation grid solutions can address not just our energy needs but also use renewable resources to provide energy security equal to other solutions such as nuclear.
Meeting our future energy needs is going to be expensive, but we can choose where we spend. Investing in technologies where Australia has significant intellectual property and expertise will not only provide the platform for future hybrid renewable energy generation systems (wind and solar for instance, which are shown to have complementary availability), but will would allow us to develop energy technologies rather than import them.

Nuclear is not a cheap option. In Finland, costs on the Olkiluoto nuclear plant, being built by French firm Areva, have blown out to almost double the initial 3 billion euro price tag and the reactor remains years from completion.

Let’s not forget, too, that nuclear power is based on a finite resource and requires enormous amounts of cooling water, limiting possible locations within Australia to our already crowded coastlines. Dry cooling or hybrid systems do exist but are not suited to hot climates such as ours.

With new capabilities in wind and solar energy resource forecasting, powerful infrastructure management computing and new storage technologies which will change the way we operate the demand-supply balance of our electricity grids, we can ensure energy security and provide solutions that will gradually allow Australia to replace coal-fired power stations. We will also be growing a new industry with the potential to generate value for the nation through the export of renewable energy expertise and technology to a carbon-constrained world……

Too late for nuclear – Unleashed (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

December 7, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business