Antinuclear

Senator Sean Edwards spruiks for the South Australian nuclear lobby

Yesterday, I wrote about the media publicity given to Senator Sean Edwards, a former estate agent, who is going very public in support of South Australia getting the entire nuclear fuel chain (around its necks). Meanwhile, Dr Helen Caldicott, a world authority, was denied publicity to put the counter case.

Today, I learn that Sen Edwards has now set up a website to promote this theme.  It’s a corker.

He starts with an attack on the Greens – they should be  “morally and philosophically compelled to support advanced nuclear energy”

Moves quickly on to the argument for nuclear power as “free energy” and the $billions of revenue for South Australia, in importing the world’ radioactive trash.

“Polling proves South Australians want this and they want it yesterday” – says Edwards.  Actually – no! Polling shows that South Australians voters reject expansion of the nuclear industry.

He asserts that “nuclear reactors produce no emissions that contribute to global warming”. (That’s untrue, but especially untrue if you ignore the entire nuclear fuel chain)

They “deliver abundant energy without any mining”. Hey – he doesn’t count the mining required for the conventional reactors to produce the wastes to put into the reprocessing reactors that he is touting! Edwards must be a bit confused. One of the main arguments for the South Australian expansion, as put by nuclear proponent Oscar Archer, is that it will  give a strong boost to Australia’s uranium mining and uranium export industry.

Edwards tells us how very safe the nuclear industry  – except for 3 what he calls “incidents” (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima).

And without any evidence at all, he asserts that – for the new non existent untested reprocessing nuclear reactors  – “The science is sound, the business case has been made and the public is behind us”

April 11, 2015 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | politics, South Australia