This was a brief story on Sky News with presenter Chis Kenny:
Call for government to give ‘all the answers’ for a less politicised nuclear power debate (msn.com)
GNSP ((Global Nuclear Security Partners) is fundamentally a public relations firm, whose objective is to promote the cause of their backers.
GNSP Australia | GNSP
I have no real problem with that. I believe the ban on nuclear power should be removed. It would then be up to interested parties to put forward proposals to build a station on their merits and would remove the distractions of the proponents. To my mind nuclear is, on a good day, an almost impossible task for the Australian market for these reasons:
1. Even the early proponents of SMR have backed away from what is an untried area. The development most quoted in Canada has been cancelled. The Russian Unit is located on a ship and the Chinese installation by CHG is also unknown and non commercial. There is a unit under construction in Argentina too. So we are really discussing larger units greater than 400MW. Around the world nukes tend to be large averaging around 750 - 800MW.
2. Nuclear units have a long lead time to completion.
3. Nukes are expensive to build.
4. Approvals are both lengthy and onerous.
5. The technology and expertise is "lean" in Australia, but of course new technologies have to start somewhere and there is plenty of experience overseas.
6. Agreement on where to put a reactor is going to be difficult. That is a euphemism of the first order.
7. De-commissioning costs need to be considered.
8. Any plant that can't compete with solar during the daylight hours (few plants can do that) will have to be viable only running for half the day and be capable of ramping down to zero and back to full load rapidly. This is not something that nuclear reactors have been good at in the past. That is not to say it can't be a design feature into the future.
9. A plant would have to be viable without government assistance or guarantees.
10. Waste disposal is an old bug bear.
11. Lastly, for the moment, and really this just emphasises some of the other steps, it has to be commercial, because the market is a competitive, private business arena, at least for anybody entering now.
Perhaps the largest hope for the nuclear lobby is the Aukus enterprise as it potentially opens the door for nuclear power and would provide some justification for removal of the ban: In fact, it is difficult to see how the ban can remain when the first subs appear. When will that be again?
Regards
Paul