‘No hope for net zero if we don’t go nuclear’

The former chief executive of Australia’s nuclear science organisation has backed the establishment of a domestic ­nuclear energy industry,

The former CEO of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Adi Paterson. Picture: AAP

The former chief executive of Australia’s nuclear science organisation has backed the establishment of a domestic ­nuclear energy industry, saying it is “vital for the world’s future” and it “will be impossible” to reach net zero by 2050 without it.

The call comes as leading legal and environmental figures join calls to overturn the legislative ban on nuclear energy and a reassessment of the nation’s nuclear ­options given national and global imperatives to reduce emissions.

Adi Paterson was CEO of Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, which operates the Lucas Heights medical and research reactor, from 2009 until September this year. “If we want the future that we’re talking about, which is a future that is a low carbon future, that honours the earth that we’re living in, and honours the future generations who will have to take over from us, we would absolutely have a ­nuclear future,” he said.

He made the comments during an interview for a Sky News documentary – Going Nuclear, The Clean Energy Debate – to be aired on Monday.

Barry Brook, professor of environmental sustainability at the University of Tasmania, also made the case for nuclear generation.

“If we’re going to completely divest ourselves of fossil fuels, we must use nuclear energy,” said Professor Brook, who stressed the urgency of emissions reduction. “We have got the technology to do it if we are willing to have large-scale nuclear as the solution. It’s there already.”

And an international expert on nuclear law says it is time to end Australia’s legislative ban on nuclear energy.

Helen Cook, a commercial lawyer who has advised governments and companies on nuclear industry issues for more than a decade, said it was time to end Australia’s legislative ban on nuclear energy.

“We have a number of our politicians who actually appreciate and understand the potential of nuclear energy, but are concerned about coming out and actually saying that publicly, so if we could overturn the prohibitions, that would be hugely significant,” she said.

In 2016 a royal commission into options for a nuclear industry in South Australia recommended the state push to overturn the ban to remove roadblocks for potential proposals. Nationals senator and former resources minister Matt Canavan has flagged parliamentary amendments or even a private member’s bill to repeal the ban.

“I can’t find another country in the world that has this type of prohibition on nuclear energy as we do in law,” Mr Canavan said. “I think it’s about time we remove the legislative prohibitions, so we could at least encourage people to consider ideas and bring forward some proposals.”

“Closing our eyes to this technology doesn’t make a lot of sense, so I’ll be pursuing those amendments when I can in the Senate,” he said.

“I personally don’t see how we achieve net zero with renewables and batteries,” Ms Cook said.

“For me, we need nuclear ­energy in this country, and it is ­imperative that we start the work needed to have nuclear as an option right now.”

Dr Paterson said there was a “carbon imperative” to “clean up” the atmosphere but he had doubts about the plausibility of delivering on the net zero by 2050 goal. “Without nuclear, it’s impossible,” he said.

“In my ideal world, we’d be doing something already, doing something meaningful, be having bipartisan agreement, we’d be looking at contracts, we’d be building our first reactors, and we’d be making that transition. Every coal-fired power station that was retired would be replaced by a ­nuclear power station that was zero carbon.”

The documentary includes ­interviews with other Australian experts, as well as leading environmental activists in the US and UK who have abandoned opposition to nuclear energy in order to embrace low-emissions energy.