We cannot afford to ignore the case for nuclear

Illustration: Tom Jellett.

Momentum is building to right the wrong of two decades ago that banned nuclear energy in Australia. Removing this ban is long overdue and community support is building.

Consider the interest just in the past few months.

During the election campaign Scott Morrison was asked about the potential for nuclear power in Australia. And interest has grown ever since.

One Nation’s NSW Legislative Council member Mark Latham, the former federal Labor leader, has introduced a bill in the state parliament’s upper house to normalise the treatment of uranium mining and nuclear energy.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro subsequently reconfirmed his support for nuclear power. After attending a seminar in the US on advanced small modular reactors last year, he is convinced they are becoming cheaper and that they could play a role in providing affordable, low-emissions, reliable power.

Barilaro also inadvertently dispelled another myth about nuclear power — that it is unpopular.

He refused to rule out nuclear power in his seat of Monaro, saying he was not going to quarantine his own electorate with a “not in my back yard” attitude. And in the March 23 NSW election he received a robust 11 per cent swing towards him.

Federal Coalition backbenchers are newly emboldened on nuclear power. Queensland Nationals MP Keith Pitt and LNP senator James McGrath delivered a pro-nuclear letter to the Prime Minister this week along with proposed terms of reference for an inquiry into nuclear power.

The letter calls for a review of advances in nuclear energy, including small nuclear reactors and thorium technology, both of which could produce less radio­active waste than traditional nuclear plants. The Australian reported Pitt as saying the nuclear issue was “a debate we are ready to have” and “in our view, the technology has moved on and small, modular reactors and thorium need to be investigated”. He also noted “strong support coming from most people, surprisingly among young people. I think the culture today means people are better informed”.

This growing political momentum reflects recent online polls.

An Essential survey released last week found more Australians support nuclear power plants than oppose them: 44 per cent are in favour, up four points since the question was last asked in November 2015, and 40 per cent are in opposition.

In October last year, 61 per cent of respondents to an SBS Viceland poll were in favour of Australia lifting the ban on nuclear energy, and an ABC Brisbane Facebook poll in March found 57 per cent were in favour of Australia considering nuclear power as an energy source.

These sources are hardly traditional pro-nuclear audiences, so it’s clear public opinion in this country is shifting in favour of this zero-emissions power source.

This will come as no surprise for those who have followed the energy debate and the climate challenges of the 21st century.

Environmentalists and scientists are increasingly supporting fairer treatment of uranium mining and nuclear power, given the twin challenges of providing reliable power to a growing global population and the need to reduce carbon emissions.

In late 2014, 77 conservation scientists called for green groups to reconsider their historical opposition to nuclear power and consider how it could help meet the climate challenge, along with all other technologies and options.

In the US, 65 per cent of a representative sample of scientists connected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science were in favour of building more nuclear power plants.

Everywhere you turn, the evidence is overwhelming that it is long past time to bin the nuclear energy ban.

Yet even with this growing public support, there is a new excuse for stalling this reform, including claims that there is no point removing the ban if nuclear power doesn’t stack up economically or financially. Why should nuclear power be required to prove it is economic when it is used so extensively in advanced economies similar to Australia, such as the US and France?

The economic case for nuclear power in Australia already has been made by South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, which investigated the feasibility of nuclear power in that state. It found that modelling of nuclear power feasibility suggested it “might well be viable” and recommended the ban be removed, saying: “In the event that fast and rapid action is required by Australia after 2030, nuclear power might play a useful role.”

So a royal commission has recommended it; the science is in; and the public is ready. Politicians ignore a shift in public opinion at their peril, especially on the vital issue of energy affordability and reliability. Nuclear power should be legal in Australia and it’s time to get on with it to benefit families, businesses and the planet.

Tania Constable is chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia.