Antinuclear

Why the Abbott govt is embarrassed about its secret support for nuclear industry

Government rules out nuclear power for Australia  OliverMilman theguardian.com, Tuesday 17 December 2013  “…….The risks of the processes involved in nuclear energy have been highlighted recently by the spill at the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu. The incident, anti-nuclear activists claim, is a stark reminder of why Australia should remain nuclear-free.

“I think the Coalition is trying to keep the door open to the option of nuclear, although it can see politically and economically it doesn’t add up,” said Dave Sweeney, nuclear free campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

“There’s no doubt there are people within the Coalition who would want to embrace nuclear. We are aware of that and that sort of ideology concerns us, so we aren’t complacent. But it’s quite unthinkable that any private company would want to fund nuclear in Australia due to the huge start-up cost.

“The government doesn’t want to critique nuclear because it raises the question ‘why then are we digging it up and having spills in the Kakadu?’. But there are huge political and economic hurdles to bringing in nuclear power. The numbers just don’t stack up, in dollars or votes.” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/17/government-rules-out-nuclear-power-for-australia

December 18, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News