Australian
Wednesday 7/1/2009 Page: 4
ONE in five Australians believes nuclear energy will provide most of the nation's electricity in 20 years, according to the Labor Party's pollster. The findings from UMR Research, obtained by The Australian, will rekindle the nuclear energy debate as the Government aims to tackle climate change. Kevin Rudd has ruled out going down the nuclear road, yet the Prime Minister's climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, declared last year that nuclear energy was an important part of the global response to a low emissions economy".
The UMR survey shows that 26% of Australians believe solar energy will supply most of Australia's power and electricity in 2028, while 23% believe it will still come from coal. 10% said most of it would come from wind, 9% favoured gas and 1% chose other sources. Australian Nuclear and Science Technology Organisation chair Ziggy Switkowski who headed up an inquiry into the viability of a domestic nuclear energy industry for the Howard government in 2006 described the 20% finding for nuclear energy as "strikingly strong". "The acceptance of nuclear continues to lift," he said.
Dr Switkowski said growing constraints on fossil fuels as the world sought to cut greenhouse gas emissions meant Australia would be "pushed inexorably to introduce nuclear energy, especially for baseload electricity". He said the case for nuclear energy was being progressively understood. "Our goal at this stage is to have an informed public conversation on nuclear energy," he said. "Every result like this, which shows people thinking about the role of nuclear energy and community interest growing, is a positive.
Dr Switkowski said Australia was "between two and four years" away from a major change of attitudes towards nuclear energy. "I think the political tide will turn when two things happen," he said. "The first will be that reality of the emissions targets, particularly post-2020, reveals that we do not have the means to get the sort of reductions that are required without the introduction of nuclear energy.
The second key development will be that community interest in nuclear energy reflects a better understanding of the technology and will move to well beyond 50% in terms of overall support." Leslie Kemeny from the International Nuclear Energy Academy said climate change concerns were boosting support for nuclear energy. He described Australian uranium exports used in power generation as "a huge carbon offset".
Professor Kemeny said that nuclear energy was becoming more attractive for more than just environmental reasons. "The only baseload energy intensive power load source that will go down in price as the resources for gas and oil and even coal deplete all over the world is the nuclear fuel cycle," he said. "The capital costs may still be high, but if you take the US as an example, the capital costs are amortised and there is no competition.
"They produce energy at about 1.68 US cents per kW hours. There's nothing that can compete with that in the US." Opposition energy and resources spokesman Ian Macfarlane agreed that acceptance of nuclear energy was growing. "In the absence of a 24/7 renewable energy source and the presence of a carbon price, nuclear is really going to be the only answer in the medium term," he said. "The question is not if, but when, the ALP recognises nuclear is part of the solution. "In the inner sanctums they know renewables cannot make the advances in the next decade needed to provide 24/7 energy. "If the Prime Minister claims to be a national leader, he should acknowledge what he already knows."
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