Nuclear Power is destined for Australia

The biggest issue I see with Australia going nuclear is Greens who aren’t truly Green.   Being green, for me, means being an environmentalist or a conservationist who wakes up every day wanting to make the world a better place for all species, not just humans.

Being Green does is not about being an antagonist or an anarchist.  It is not about simply rejecting any progressive idea that initiates from a conservative political party that’s just trying to help the country they serve.

Nope, you are supposed to put the double degrees that your parents paid for to good use at some point of your soy cappuccino sipping lives.

Of course a double degree in art history and philosophy doesn’t exactly provide you with a good basis for designing electrical generation systems for powering the homes of millions of people, but hey, don’t let that stop you.

It’s just a shame that no one seems to be able or willing to weed out those types from Green policy political parties and the troublemaking types that sometimes make up their team.

Please do not call yourself Green if you cannot at least entertain the idea that Nuclear Power has its place in the worlds low to zero emissions future.

What we need are a few rational discussions about nuclear power.  Then our spin talking/issue avoiding politicians need to take a few trips to progressive countries that are doing very well with a combination of Advanced New Nuclear Power Technology and Renewable Energy.  

Go and see how good it can be rather than making rash comments about how problematic Nuclear Power supposedly is.

People who dismiss nuclear power every time it comes up in a conversation need to understand that Nuclear Power technology has advanced tremendously in the last 50 years, just as it has in their family car.

Would you rather drive a 50-year-old car that struggled to go around corners and couldn’t stop, or a 2022-built vehicle that goes around corners like it’s on rails and can stop on a dime in a fraction of a second?

Unless you’re a fan of 1970’s muscle cars, you’ll probably insist upon the 2022 technology vehicle and that’s exactly why it’s time to talk nuclear.

These days you have people like Bill Gates getting involved with developing Advanced Nuclear Reactors because he knows it’s the way forward.

Elon Musk is pro-nuclear and has stated numerous times that stigmatising nuclear energy is a mistake, especially since renewables like solar and batteries are still ramping up.

Advanced nuclear reactors have the potential to provide Australia with cheap, low-carbon electricity while also aiding in the healing of the environment.

There’s no reason Australia can’t achieve 95-100% continuous, low-carbon electricity generation if we combine nuclear power stations with near-pure methane & synthetic gas fired power stations and more productive renewables like the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project.

Nuclear power plants may be expensive to build but these days; they are not that expensive to operate thanks to the vast amount of improvements made over the last 5 decades.

In any event, before we start complaining about Nuclear Power Plant commissioning costs, people need to find out the true cost of renewable energy.  This truth is now starting to be exposed and what you will see is not nice, it’s actually horrifying.

Advance Nuclear Power Stations are a dependable energy generation system that can adapt to changes in electricity demand and produce electricity continuously while being environmentally friendly.

Because of the stability it provides to the grid and its controllable nature, nuclear power significantly contributes to the security of electricity supply to our most sacred facilities like hospitals and football stadiums.

Nuclear power is one of the least expensive sources of electricity generation, allowing countries that use it to have the world’s lowest electricity prices.

A combination of Nuclear Power Stations, Gas Fired Power Stations (Methane & Synthetic Gas) and Hydropower projects is the solution to keep the lights on in our homes 24/7 and sustain our goals of low-carbon energy generation and meet the world’s commitments to combat global warming.

If global electricity demand continues at its current rate, owing largely to Elon and his electric car buddies, we will need twice as much power available to consumers by Dec 2050.

Also, if we meet our environmental targets, the production of all that electricity will be completely carbon neutral and there is no way in hell we will meet all our targets without Advanced Nuclear Power Technology, and please feel free to prove me wrong.

Almost 97% of all spent fuel is recyclable, and thanks to Pyro-Chemical recycling of spent rods, the issue of storing nuclear waste is now a thing of the past.

Spent fuel is now recycled into new fuel and thanks to Fast Neutron Reactors, we now have reactors that can use recycled fuel just as efficiently as new fuel.

The Nuclear Power bogeyman no longer exists; we must move on, and to quote Huey Lewis and the News, “It’s as simple as that.”

Unlike older technologies such as diesel and coal-fired power generation in the 1970’s, nuclear power emits no fine particles, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrates, or phosphates into the atmosphere.

Speaking of coal fired power stations, I must say that the new High-Efficiency, Low-Emissions Coal-Fired Power Generation Technology is extremely exciting and there’s no reason why this technology should be overlooked with regards to our future.

Some of the world’s most brilliant minds have advised Australia’s management team (the politicians) that nuclear power is our solution for meeting both emissions targets and ending Australia’s status as the most expensive place in the world to power a light bulb.

However, our politicians just won’t listen and continue to avoid conversations about making the switch to Nuclear Power.

Australia is now facing 50%+ increases in electricity costs, and age pensioners may not be able to afford to turn on their air conditioners this summer, so what are they supposed to do?

How about our politicians? Will they use their air conditioners on cooling mode this summer?  Will they need to use electrical fan heaters or air conditioners on heat mode this winter?

Australia, almost as if in opposition to the rest of the world, continues to bury its head in the sand when it comes to nuclear energy, refusing to hear about how it is a clean energy source that is widely used around the world.

This means that as a country, we may never benefit from other countries’ approaches and policies regarding energy production; instead, we will remain in our own little ‘silo’, ignoring what the big kids are doing in the real world and continue to be the source of jokes about power prices.

The only reliable, affordable, emission-free energy source that can support renewables at night or when the wind isn’t blowing very hard is nuclear power.

The much needed role of nuclear energy and other technologies in achieving net zero emissions must be discussed maturely in Australia by people with a good balance of maturity and wisdom.

If you would like to join the conversation about Nuclear Energy in Australia, you are in luck. The shadow minister for climate change and energy, Ted O’Brien is one Australian that seems to believe the conversations about Nuclear Power need to take place sooner rather than later.

Ted has set-up the Time To Talk Nuclear website and this is a safe place where you can take the survey and make whatever comments you like about Nuclear Energy.  His website states very clearly that all submissions will remain anonymous.