Why has AU -BANNED- use of Nuclear Energy in AU, since 1999?!?

Some of you may have seen my post on "20 Free (docos) on Safe, LIQUID-fuel, Nuclear Energy, from Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs)" (set to be available - ie, in clever Canada - from ~2021).

I, for one, feel AU should be preparing itself to join clever France & other countries, who now aim to -replace- their dependence on FOSSIL-fuels, by using Carbon-free, sustainable, Safe, Small, "New Nukes" (ie, MSRs).

(Even Oil-rich Norway has created an R&D lab, focused on "Energy from Thorium" (not to mention their SuperFund, to enable continuation of the high quality of Life in Norway, even after their North Sea oil revenues stop flowing-in.)

Well, AU has created a hurdle for itself - in Law, no less - that BANS use of Nuclear Energy here!!!

So, there's that OBSOLETE restriction to be removed from AU Law, ie, before we can build & use safe, green, modular, post-Fukushima, Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) to help reduce AU's Carbon Footprint.

As MSRs are set to "arrive" in ~2021, we'd better start demanding that this silly BAN be dismantled ASAP.

The Abbot gov't has already begun to -waste- millions of our tax dollars, eg, on expanding a Queensland port, so we can export more of our dirty Coal, faster.

So, money that could have been invested in preparing AU for safe, New Nuclear Energy, eg, by removing such BANs, training our brightest students for high-paying jobs, eg, as Nuclear Physicists or Engineers & creating a Regulatory structure that encourages safe, small, Nuclear Plants in AU… will have to be found elsewhere.

Still, the smart response to Climate Change is energy-dense, safe, Nuclear Energy.

Let me encourage you to take a serious look at MSRs, eg, using app "Thorium" remix to access some of those docks, mentioned in earlier posts.

Let your federal MP know you don't want AU "shackled" to the unhealthy future of FOSSIL-fuel usage, that the current BAN enforces.

PS The BAN is buried in this 1999 Law:

  • Environment & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

(A very short Section 140A does all the damage here, in EBCA 1999; despite its having been changed through 2014, this Law needs the REMOVAL of Section 140A.)

Let's face it, our dirty Coal & CO2-emitting Gas electricity plants are contributing to the creation of local Climates, that mean more & larger Bushfires & hotter Summers that ever before.

2014 was the Hottest year to date. Want to bet your kids' futures on 2015 & beyond? We don't.

"Know NEW Nukes" & I'm -sure- you'll want 'em to replace AU's FOSSIL-fuel power plants ASAP.

Grab app "Thorium" remix, view its docks, & help spread the word about LIQUID-fuel MSRs.

Comments

  • dude you are insane. They banned it ages ago , they wont reverse the ban because there is no demand for it in aus, our pop is to small and far to spread out to make it viable.

  • +1

    The question is "why has AU banned use of nuclear energy?"

    Answer:

    • We don't have suitable long term storage (lucas heights is temporary)
    • There are other methods of energy generation which don't have long term storage issues
    • It gets hippies nickers in a knot.
    • Nuclear energy is not a finite resource, and the Research is being put into renewable energies, rather than the processing of non-renewables
    • didnt help that it was getting a bad wrap back then due to safety concerns , easy votes by banning something thats just not viable.

    • Correct on Hippies hate it. Millennials and hipsters hate it too. They don't understand it, but they hate it.

      Too many disaster movies, and buzz words (like Chernobyl, Hiroshima, etc) also override the 99.999999% of benefits for the majority of the population also.

      Seriously, the only way would be to get Apple Inc to start making reactors. No, seriously. This would be the only way to get the masses to accept the idea.

      Bottom line: it's never happening.

    • Liquid-Fuel Molten Salt Reactors (eg, TransAtomic Power's WAMSR) can extract & use energy from others' Fuel Rods…

      Leaving far LESS to store.possibly for shorter periods.

      What's NOT to like about "New MSR Nukes"…?

    • What do you mean by "Nuclear energy is not a finite resource"?

      Thousands of years of Thorium is easier to find & use as fuel (in MSRs) than Uranium.

      Cf your choice of 20+ doco's via the tiny (iOS & Android) app "Thorium" remix

      • You're limited by the cost of mining and processing.

        • Very little Thorium (or Uranium) is needed in an MSR.

          If it's Th, an MSR makes U233 from it.

          Little or no processing need be done to Th.

          NO Costly+Wasteful -solid- Fuel Rods are needed.

          A 5-min intro to some of this stuff is on TED.com:

          • (last 5 min's of a 10-min talk): Kirk Sorensen

          (Search by his surname)

  • +2

    We should focus on solar, thermal, wind and hydro. Especially in Aus.

    • +2

      While those are all good technologies we should be investing in, they simply wont be able to replace our brown coal power-plants in the short-medium term.
      The future is nuclear as a primary electricity generation method, with renewable energies used as additional energy generation.

    • Do the Maths:

      • Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air

      Author's site has links to his talks on this, OR
      if you prefer to read it, a PDF of his book is Free at:

      • WithoutHotAir.com

      (Author - Dr David MacKay - is a UK Physicist)

  • will never be implemented in Aus till coal and gas are near depleted. Some things are simply cheaper (irrespective of environment).

  • I'm not into 'energy conservation' at all, except in a personal sense. In other words, I like to use as much energy from external sources as possible, in order to reduce the amount of energy that I personally have to expend, to get things done. And if I want to run my dishwasher all the time even when it's empty because I like the calming 'waterfall type' sound it makes, then I freakin well will. I pay my taxes. The main reason I like nuclear power though is because hippies hate it.

    My enemies enemy is my friend.

    • Enemy's ( or maybe: enemies' )

  • Even Oil-Rich Norway has embraced Liquid-Fuel MSRs

    (They even have a Thorium R&D Lab.)

    "Scandinavians tend to get things right oftener than Aussie, IMO."

  • Doco on Uranium is on right now on SBS

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