Australians are not serious about tackling global warming and transitioning to clean energy if the country does not include nuclear power, leading industry advocate, Dr Ziggy Switkowski, said today at the opening of day two of the 2009 Paydirt Uranium Conference in Adelaide. He questioned why Australia was falling behind the rest of the world on climate change initiatives that could involve nuclear energy.

The physicist and Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Chairman said that over the past two years:

• The UK had committed to a program to build nuclear power stations to replace its existing 19 reactors to be able to produce 20% of the country’s electricity generation, and to add further capacity
• Germany has reversed an earlier decision to phase out nuclear power and is extending operating licenses for its reactors (17 reactors producing 25% of its electricity) from 40 to 60 years, while importing more nuclear power from neighbouring countries
• Sweden has been added to the list of EU countries to restart building of nuclear power stations after a 30 year moratorium (already with 10 reactors generating 50% of its electricity)
• Italy also joined the EU list last year, targeting 25% of its electricity to be generated by imported nuclear powered by 2030
• 31% of EU electricity is already provided by nuclear power
• United States President, Barack Obama, has already confirmed that the US cannot meet its climate change goals without more nuclear power.

Switkowski: “There is no denying the European Union is leading the world on the issue of climate change. As a nation, we need to take a leaf out of the EU’s book. Yet the Federal Minister of Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, has stated the Federal Government’s position very clearly. (The Minister recently said “nuclear power is not needed as part of Australia’s energy mix given [the] country’s abundance and diversity of low cost and reliable energy sources, both fossil fuel and renewable. The Government has a clear policy of prohibiting the development of an Australian nuclear power industry, but the Government also understands that nuclear power is an important part of the energy mix in some countries where energy demand is growing strongly but which lack the abundant and diverse energy resources available to Australians.”)

“This policy stance ignores the findings of the uranium mining, processing and nuclear power review in 2006, which concluded that nuclear power offered the promise of being the cleanest, safest and lowest cost form of energy in the 2020s. The review also suggested a possible scenario where our first reactor could be operational in the early 2020s and a network of 25 reactors in place by 2050, producing about a third of Australia’s electricity needs. This scenario would reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by 18%, compared to the continued use of fossil fuels. It may not be a silver bullet, but at the very least it would lead to a considerable contribution to greenhouse gas reductions.”

Switkowski said that, as well as having greenhouse gas emission levels comparable to wind and solar technologies, nuclear power offers several compelling arguments for deployment in Australia, including its proven 24/7 base load capacity, the country’s plentiful reserves of uranium, and generating costs that compare favourably with coal and gas fired power generation once carbon emissions are costed. “Targeted deep greenhouse gas emission reductions will almost certainly prove beyond the capability of existing technologies and renewable energy platforms to deliver in the available time,” he said.

“Our lights will start to go out as investment in clean base-load energy generation stalls in an uncertain regulatory environment and the nuclear alternative is not validated. In a carbon-constrained future, nuclear-powered economies will exploit their cost advantages for clean energy in competing with Australian products newly burdened by embedded carbon costs,” Switkowski continued.

According to Switkowski, 31 countries representing two-thirds of humanity currently use nuclear power to produce some of their electricity. 15% of electricity worldwide is nuclear-generated, 23% within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and 31% in the European Union. “The current nuclear community is expected to grow to 50 countries by 2020. From our region, these already include China, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Japan, and South Korea and may extend to Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. An increasing number of countries around the world are turning to nuclear power to meet growing demand for energy, reduce GHG emissions, and diversify their energy mix from a single platform or dominant fuel supplier. Why not Australia?” Switkowski considered.