Early submissions to Australian govt Inquiry slightly favour nuclear power
First views to federal inquiry give tick to nuclear power, The pro-nuclear power camp is slightly ahead in the first batch of views presented to the federal inquiry. Nuclear backers lead charge in new probe Chris Russell, The Advertiser, August 23, 2019
Nuclear power can operate safely and Australia should pursue the technology, a slight majority of initial submissions to the Federal Government’s inquiry into the issue recommend.
However, nearly as many submissions urge against nuclear power, saying it is dangerous and uneconomic.
“There is no business case for nuclear in Australia,” University of Adelaide Professor Derek Abbott argues.
“From an engineering viewpoint, the modern grid in fact needs energy sources that can rapidly respond to changing demand.
“(It) … would be a poor investment in a technology that will be largely redundant in the modern grid.”
Fellow South Australian Denys Smith, a retired analytical chemist, says that having plentiful power would support desalinating water, a hydrogen industry, mineral processing and manufacturing.
“Involve the public in the nuclear power debate as SA did during the royal commission in 2016,” he suggests.
“Information and facts change attitudes.”
The two SA submissions are among the first 17 to be published by the Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy, which is holding an inquiry into The Prerequisites for Nuclear Energy in Australia.
Nine submissions were in favour and seven against, with one recommending a focus on thorium rather than uranium-fuelled reactors.
The inquiry, which was established this month on instruction from federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor is open for submissions until September 16.
It will then hold hearings and request further evidence.
In his submission, Notre Dame University Professor Keith Thompson tells the inquiry nuclear power could assist Australia to fulfil an “altruistic obligation to the world to develop its agricultural potential”.
In contrast, Richard Finlay-Jones, from EcoEnviro consultants, says nuclear will not solve price and reliability issues and that “Australia has such rich renewable energy resources that it has the potential to generate power for all of southeast Asia”.
The first submissions are from individuals, with organisations likely to lodge comprehensive documents nearer to the closing date.
The inquiry must take regard of SA’s 2016 Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle – which found generation was not commercially viable for SA alone but should be considered nationally – and the 2006 Switkowski review.
Mr Taylor has asked the committee to report by the end of the year.
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