Nuclear future is 'inevitable' - Dr Ziggy Switkowski

Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009

A Decision to build a nuclear reactor in Australia will be made within five years according to nuclear advocate Dr Ziggy Switkowski.

Dr Switkowski, chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and a former chief executive of Telstra, said yesterday the Australian community was not yet ready for nuclear power, but the tide was turning.

Speaking at the Paydirt 2009 Uranium Conference in Adelaide, Dr Switkowski said polls showed more than half of the community now supported nuclear power, but not in their area.

He conceded the nuclear industry would not yet attract political backing.

"My own view is that over time the government will find, as other governments have, that nuclear energy is too important and effective a source of clean energy to be ignored," Dr Switkowski said.

"I think we're two to five years away from that point as a country."

Dr Switkowski said nuclear had to be part of the solution if the Federal Government was serious about tackling climate change.

"Targeted deep greenhouse gas emission reductions will almost certainly prove beyond the capability of existing technologies and renewable energy platforms to deliver in the available time," he said.

"Our lights will start to go out as investment in clean base load energy generation stalls in an uncertain regulatory environment and the nuclear alternative is not validated."

Under the Kyoto Protocol, Australia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050.

This goal would not be achieved without nuclear power, Dr Switkowski said. He said 31 countries, representing two-thirds of humanity, already used nuclear power to produce some of their electricity. This equated to 15 per cent of the world's total electricity consumption.

"The current nuclear community is expected to grow to 50 countries by 2020," Dr Switkowski said.

Once the decision had been made to build a nuclear reactor, it would take about 15 years for the first reactor to be up and running, he said.

Dr Switkowski said if the cost of carbon was factored in, as would be the case in the Federal Government's carbon pollution reduction scheme, the cost of nuclear power would be comparable to other base load power sources such as coal and gas.

"If the cost of carbon was high, nuclear would be the least expensive base load option. It's also the cleanest and it's also the safest," he said.

Source: news.com.au