Australia Nuclear Update

Yesterday, we gave you a general update on happenings in Australia around nuclear energy, and it's clear now that the debate is really heating up. Click here to participate in an online debate that's been sparked by comments by New South Wales Premier Bob Carr that Australia needs to have a national debate on nuclear energy.

The Skeleton is one blogger who is ready for an honest discussion on the topic:

It'’s time to more beyond the screeching of extreme conservationists and at least have a civilised public discussion on the issue. I can't see that nuclear power used properly would be any worse than a coal-fired power station. Time for people to stop going off their respective rockers and discuss the factual pros and cons.

And in many ways, it's clear that nuclear energy has some important advantages over other elements of the fuel supply.

Here's Leslie Kemeny of the International Nuclear Energy Academy, writing in the Australian:

Japan's 54 nuclear power stations alone save the equivalent of Australia's total greenhouse emissions. And the secret of this success is uranium fuel imported from Australia. Over a critical window of the next 20 years no other energy technology can achieve such results and satisfy the immense growth in energy demand by the world's developing nations.

For more from reporter Dave King, click here.

Thanks to reader Matthew Bohun and Pharoz for the links.

UPDATE: Here's more from the Brisbane Courier-Mail.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics

Comments

Matthew66 said…

The electronic forum on the ABC's website has now closed. The forum canvassed a wide variety of views - 360 responses were posted. The ABC will likely keep the responses on its site for six months or so, so there is plenty of opportunity to read the different threads. It was interesting to see the wide variety of responses. Unfortunately, many contributors based their arguments on outdated scientific opinions, or just plain prejudice. I was also disappointed to read that Bob Carr, the NSW Premier who started the ball rolling, is willing to have Nuclear Power plants in his State, but does not want to accept responsibility for managing used nuclear fuel. I don't think you can do one without the other.

June 8, 2005 at 4:47 PM

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog