With the announcement last week that NSW is lifting its 25 year ban on uranium exploration, is NSW set to become Australia’s first nuclear state.
In an interview with ABC’s Simon Santow on Wednesday. Barry O’Farrell was asked about a nuclear reactor for NSW. The Premier replied “Well I’ve always said that there’s no place for one of those in New South Wales. The fact is that nuclear power stations require water in order to cool them. The only place that’s going to happen in New South Wales is on the coastline, and no part of the New South Wales coast is going to be given up by any government for such a facility.”
I find this reply fascinating after sitting in the room with a 100 or so other people at the NSW Solar Summit in Newcastle last year to be lectured on how good nuclear was and the advances that have taken place and even to the point of hearing about a small backyard nuclear plant. Yes that’s right, lets all have a mobile nuclear plant in our backyard, I wonder do they come packaged with security guards or do you have to supply your own.
We keep hearing how clean nuclear power is, how it is a zero emission energy source, what they do not mention though is the amount of green house gas emissions created during the exploration, the mining, the processing of the uranium, etc. to then be able to produce this zero emmission power. There seems to be a push to package nuclear up as a renewable power which, if this was true we could then say the same for coal. Neither are renewable, both have a limited supply and both are bad for the environment.
We have heard O’Farrells true feelings on wind power in NSW, we know what they think about Solar power after their push for a retrospective change to the Feed-in tariffs of 120,000 New South Welshman last year, when are we going to hear O’Farrell’s and the Coalitions true feelings on nuclear power.
Barry O’Farrell needs to put it on the public record that there will never be a nuclear power station in NSW as long as he is Premier. And if during his rein at the top there is a nuclear reactor proposed or approved for NSW he will do the honorable thing and resign from Parliament
The Challenge is out there for you Mr O’Farrell, will you show your NSW constituents true leadership and take up the challenge