We have believed for a long time now that Australia’s ban on the use of nuclear energy, for the manufacture of anything but medical isotopes, was not justified.
Politicians will generally not talk about it.
But now we have some data put on the table, for consideration by the powers that be.
The following data were provided by Mr Robert Parker, speaking to an audience of more than 100 people in Armidale, NSW.
There are 440 nuclear power plants in operation in the world,with a further 60 under construction.
They give their Canadian, South Korean, American, Finnish, and Chinese citizens electricity at half the price Australians pay. (It is well known, also, that France gets more than 70 per cent of its power from nuclear sources.)
Taking Finland as a guide, their power station when it came online produced a drop of 75 per cent in the price of electricity. Now 68 per cent of Finns are supporters of nuclear power, with only 6 per cent against.
The best comparison cited by the speaker is with Canada. When it adds 4,800 megawatts to the 6,100 already in place at the Bruce power plant, it will have the biggest plant in the world. But it also has four small nuclear plants in Ontario, using modular designs from General Electric.
Ontario is in several ways a useful comparison with Australia. Its population is 14.6 million, whereas NSW and Victoria combined have 14.8 million. Its area is 1,076 square kilometres, NSW and Victoria combined have 1,028 million. The difference between them is in electricity emissions:
Ontario 25 grams per kWh, NSW/Vic 798. The annual manufacturing value in Ontario was $315 billion, NSW/Vic $238.5.
As to areas taken, a nuclear plant took 2.47 square metres, compared with a wind factory producing a similar output at 890 sq.km. A solar factory would have to use 3.1 million photovoltaic panels.
A comparison of a different kind was on costs. The Canadian type of modular plant costs c. $1.5 billion (with a worldwide average build time 7.5 years). The HumeLink transmission line proposed for NSW would cost more than $3.5 billion.
We hope these data are factual. The speaker, Mr Parker, said he was a member of the Australian Labor Party, and was pre-selected to stand for the ALP in Goulburn. He congratulated the federal Opposition for taking a position to back nuclear power generation, while pointing out that in Canada the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister were regarded as centre-left politicians.
Did he put his finger on the Australian problem when, in saying that the attendance was pleasing, he pointed out that only a handful of young people were there, despite invitations going to local high schools and the University of New England?
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 1 December 2023.
