Antinuclear

Uranium industry leading South Australia to economic disaster

FORMER Australian ambassador Richard Broinowski feels sorry for South Australia because of its uranium industry. CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL Business Editor , AdelaideNow , February 14, 2012 In a rowdy lecture at UniSA’s Hawke Centre, Mr Broinowski said the days of the industry were numbered following the Fukushima disaster.

This would directly affect SA with its three mines at Olympic Dam, Beverley and Honeymoon. “I’m very sorry for SA,” he said. “You’ve got a Premier who wants this, who sees dollar signs flashing before his eyes.”

Mr Broinowski, a former ambassador to South Korea and to Vietnam, is now an adjunct professor at the University of Sydney.

He declared himself to be a member of the anti-nuclear industry and in a lecture to about 150 people at the Hawke Centre on Monday night, gave a taste of a book he is writing on Fukushima and its political fallout. He predicts the collapse of the nuclear industry in Japan within ten years.

The end was nigh even though Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda did not have the same “fire in the belly” to close the nuclear industry as predecessor Naoto Kan who was in charge at the time of earthquake and tsunami disaster.

“The Japanese have turned the corner,” Mr Broinowski said. “There’s going to be change.
“… The nuclear industry in Japan has a short life. I give it 10 years before there is a dimunition.  A lot of reactors are not going to go back on-line, no new ones are going to be built and the ones which will be allowed to come back online will done grudgingly and simply as part of the mix to get over the interregnum until they go to renewables.”

Japan’s position, coupled with the stance of Germany where there is also a political decision to phase out the nuclear industry, would show the world the power source was unnecessary, he said……  http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/im-very-sorry-for-sa-broinowski/story-e6fredj3-1226270697506

February 15, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News