‘PR stunt’: Former Miss America Grace Stanke fails to win over Morwell with pro-nuclear pitch

Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke is failing to convince Morwell to back nuclear energy in her Victorian tour backed by Dick Smith.

Former Miss America Grace Stanke is set to front a pro-nuclear energy talk in Morwell. Picture: Supplied

Former Miss America Grace Stanke is set to front a pro-nuclear energy talk in Morwell on Sunday night as she tours the country trying to win over the public and persuade them that nuclear is the way to go.

The trip has been funded by electronics mogul Dick Smith and will see Ms Stanke visit capital cities and some of the sites, like Morwell, where Peter Dutton has suggested nuclear power plants would go.

The 22-year-old nuclear engineer’s tour isn’t proving popular with everyone, however, with some experts labelling her talks as a “smokescreen for the Coalition’s anti-renewable agenda”.

Latrobe Valley Organiser for Environment Victoria Hayley Sestokas said it was nothing but a PR stunt and that the proposed nuclear site near Morwell was a bad fit for a bad idea.

Grace Stanke was awarded Miss America in 2023. Picture: Supplied.

“Nuclear power might have worked in other countries, but it’s not the right fit for Australia,” she said.

“And it certainly isn’t the right fit for the Latrobe Valley, sitting on a fault line and next to a coal pit which is inherently unstable.

“We have over $40b of investment and renewable energy jobs that are already materialising for people in Gippsland. To pursue this nuclear fantasy puts all that at risk.”

While local engineer Greg Dyer said nuclear power was too risky a proposition for the area.

“Nuclear will only ever deliver a fraction of our electricity needs and couldn’t possibly be built before 2045. It’s too little too late to help with today’s cost of living issues,” he said.

“I am also concerned about the impacts on both local business and property prices in the region if offshore wind gets knocked over and we end up living next to a nuclear power plant.”

Nuclear engineer and 2023 Miss America Grace Stanke speaks on nuclear energy. Picture: Supplied

Speaking at another proposed site in Collie, Western Australia this week Ms Stanke said that town, like Morwell, was a perfect place for a nuclear power plant.

“I think for this town specifically, a lot of the skills current coal workers have can translate into a nuclear power plant or multiple power plants,” she said.

As for the reason for her tour, Ms Stanke said she wanted to ease the fears people may have regarding nuclear waste.

“I use my personal story to break misconceptions and talk about what happens to the waste, the safety, the cost, the build time for building nuclear,” she said.

After she was crowned Miss America in 2023, the beauty queen was listed on Forbes 30 under 30 for Energy and given the title the “New Face of Nuclear Energy” by the Wall Street Journal.

The Coalition announced their nuclear energy plan in 2024 and have listed Loy Yang Power Station, located 18km east of Morwell, as a proposed site for a power plant.

Originally published as ‘PR stunt’: Former Miss America Grace Stanke fails to win over Morwell with pro-nuclear pitch