Flynn MP Colin Boyce makes pitch for nuclear power in Australia

A regional LNP MP has fired up about the potential of nuclear power in Australia, saying the current plan was destroying regional areas.

Flynn MP Colin Boyce has pushed for the federal government to further explore the energy source in a 16-page submission to its inquiry into nuclear power generation in Australia.

A regional LNP MP is calling for a nuclear answer to the nation’s energy future, claiming renewable energy projects are destroying regional areas and the power source will help revitalise Queensland’s town.

Flynn MP Colin Boyce has pushed for the federal government to further explore the energy source in a 16-page submission to its inquiry into nuclear power generation in Australia.

In the submission, Mr Boyce questioned why Australia was not “even investigating” nuclear as an option when the rest of the world had been using it.

“The biggest holdup currently is the legislative bans, that prevent the introduction of nuclear power into the Australian energy system,” Mr Boyce said in the document.

The power source, which is being proposed by the federal LNP government as an answer ahead of the next election, is proposed to be built at existing coal-fired power plant sites as they are shut down.

Flynn MP Colin Boyce has pushed for the federal government to further explore the energy source in a 16-page submission to its inquiry into nuclear power generation in Australia.

Mr Boyce said doing this would help breath new life into regional areas which were struggling to stay afloat.

“The Callide Power station is one of the coal-fired power stations that is scheduled for closure in the next three years,” Mr Boyce said.

“This would put 260 people out of work and the flow on effect to the local community would be huge.

“There would be approximately 1000 people immediately directly affected, without considering the losses to related businesses, as well as schools and services that rely on the numbers of people in the town.

“Biloela has already lost most of its chain store style shops and has very few specialist services in the health areas, with travelling services coming out on rosters.

“The lack of even a CT scanner at the local hospital as well as the inability to give birth anywhere in the region. These problems force families out of the areas as they leave to follow stable employment.”

The need for high voltage transmission lines to connect renewables to the grid was dividing regional Qld (a protest campaign at the Mary Valley near Gympie, outside Mr Boyce’s electorate, pictured), Mr Boyce said. Picture: Facebook

Mr Boyce said this would be compounded by renewable hubs which, in comparison, would create jobs for “possibly four to 40 people” if four of the projects in Flynn get given the green light.

Even then “we are already witnessing in Gladstone that these operational positions are being advertised as based in Brisbane or Melbourne – not in Biloela”.

There was the impact on the region’s land, too.

Mr Boyce said regional Queensland was being “destroyed with renewable energy projects”.

“There are over 80 in my electorate of Flynn, some with footprints of 46,000ha,” Mr Boyce said.

Mr Boyce said data showed nuclear power was the safest form of energy generation.

“These are gigantic when compared to what is needed for nuclear and pale in comparison even further when you look at the output of energy generation.”

The need for high voltage transmission lines to connect renewables to the grid was dividing regional Qld as well.

He shot down concerns over safety – “in nearly 40 countries with commercial nuclear power operation (Chernobyl and Fukushima) are the only major accidents to have occurred in over 18,500 cumulative reactor-years” – and said Australia had been safely managing nuclear waste from sites like Lucas Heights since the late 1950s.

The biggest challenge, Mr Boyce said, was water, “as we inhabit the driest continent on earth”.

“We will need to consider what cooling systems will work best for our locations across the country as this will impact on what water usages will be required,” he said.

The benefits for pursuing nuclear were clear, he submitted.

“Nuclear is an investment in high-paying jobs and economic security for our regional areas, while protecting our high-quality agricultural land for generations to come,” Mr Boyce said.

“Renewables and nuclear are companions, not competitors.”

Originally published as Flynn MP Colin Boyce makes pitch for nuclear power in Australia