PM Says 'No' To Nuclear At Liddell

 BY IAN CROUCH

The Prime Minister has ruled out building a small-scale nuclear reactor on the site of the Liddell power station near Muswellbrook.

Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton has come out in support of a call from the Nationals to build small nuclear power plants to help shore up power supply as coal-fired power is phased out.

Speaking at the opening of the Donald Horne building at Muswellbrook on Tuesday, Anthony Albanese told reporters nuclear energy is the slowest to put in place and the most expensive.

He says he's yet to see a financing proposal which makes nuclear power a viable alternative and Australia needs real solutions to address future energy needs.  

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Hunter MP Dan Repacholi at Muswellbrook on Tuesday. Picture Maitland Mercury

 

Lake Mac Council Rejects Nuclear Power Plant Proposal

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Lake Macquarie City Council have voted against a motion to host a nuclear power plant at the former Eraring Power Station. 

The motion asked councillors to repeal a long-standing ban on nuclear power stations, and consider building one on the Lake's shore. 

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act ban the approval, licensing, construction or operation of any nuclear fuel fabrication plant, a nuclear power plan, enrichment plant or reprocessing facility in Australia. 

However, North Ward Councillor Colin Grigg, who brought the motion to council, believes nuclear power is a clean, sustainable solution to the region's power problems. 

"I believe we need to take a look at nuclear because as it stands right now, renewables are not sufficient to meet the demand and I think we need to have reliable base load power," Cr Grigg said. 

However, council was not persuaded, and voted 12 to 1 against the motion at last night's meeting, citing issues surrounding the storage of nuclear waste, and the station's environmental impact on the area. 

In response, Cr Grigg said council needs to "take of the shades" and continue the discussion about what to do next.

"I'm disappointed that councillors missed the opportunity to read the facts sheet that I sent to them all. They were quoting from understandings from before like Chernobyl and I think that's the problem; the community has basically been scared off nuclear and all I'm saying is we need to, with fresh eyes, take a look at nuclear," he said. 

He also said placing the plant at Earing was just a suggestion, and he'd be happy to see a facility placed elsewhere. 

"There's 45 countries in the world that are using nuclear power. There's 450 nuclear power stations in the world; American has 100 and is building more, and France has over 50 and is building more. I think that we're lagging behind on this. If there's an alternative that could provide reliable base load power, I'm happy for it, but at the moment there's nothing else."  

Image: CSIRO

Lyne MP David Gillespie Says Nuclear Power "Ticks All The Boxes"

BY IAN CROUCH

Federal Nationals Mp for Lyne, David Gillespie has taken a swipe at Labor's Net Zero Emissions Policy by 2050 saying it would be taking a wrecking ball to the Hunter's economy.

He's in Tomago today (Friday March 6) for a tour of the headquarters of Westrac, which provides heavy earth moving equipment to the mining industry and employs 3,500 staff nationwide.

Mr Gillespie is also due to meet with Tomago Aluminium CEO Matthew Howell later this month - the company employs 1,200 people locally.

He says Labor's policy threatens the future of these jobs and thousands of others in the associated mining, mechanical, manufacturing, tourism and coal chain sectors because it fails to provide a future for base load power which he says is vital for heavy industry.

David Gillespie says while the Morrison government is looking at clean energy technologies like, low emission clean coal, gas, solar, wind and nuclear, major energy users like Tomago Aluminium will still need a reliable source of base load power into the future.

"We're making a change to a cleaner mix, but we've got to keep our base load producers going because otherwise we won't have things like the Tomago Smelter, we won't have all the manufacturing and all those high-value jobs in the Hunter," he said.

Mr Gillespie also responded to comments made this week by his state Nationals colleague, Upper Hunter MP, Michael Johnsen who said establishing a nuclear power generator in the Upper Hunter "would be a good fit because of its extensive energy infrastructure".

While stopping short of supporting the move, which would involve lifting a ban on nuclear technology, Mr Gillespie said the new technology has been examined in a recent report to the federal government and was found to be safe and efficient.

"One of the recommendations was to consider removing the ban on the latest 3 plus and 4 generations of smaller modular reactors and the newer more efficient ones", he said. "Things have moved on" since the old generation 1 and 2 plants and the government is relying on the "technology road map" incorporating "exceptionally efficient" coal-burning power stations which he says will reduce the carbon footprint by 43 percent, while gas-fired power stations will reduce the footprint by 50 percent and nuclear is "even better" than solar and wind.

"We're agnostic at the moment - there are no plans to remove the ban, but certainly more and more people are talking about it because it ticks all the boxes," he said.

Nationals Federal Member for Lyne, Dr David Gillespie