Nuclear Now, Not The Never-Never
Scaremongering by alarmists has resulted in a lost opportunity to lift a prohibition on Nuclear energy in Victoria.
The Victorian Parliament’s Environment and Planning Committee has handed down a neutral finding in its Inquiry into the lifting of the ban.
Liberal Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, was one of three MPs to present a Minority Report to the Victorian Parliament on the findings.
Those who voted against it were Labor MP’s Nina Taylor and Sonja Terpstra, the Green’s Samantha Ratnam, Andy Meddick from the Animal Justice Party and Clifford Hayes of the Sustainable Australia Party.
Mrs McArthur said their position represents an “old-fashioned, ill-informed view”.
“Even the union movement understands the need for nuclear,” Mrs McArthur said.
The AWU and the CFMEU raised concerns with the Committee regarding the distortion of facts.
The AWU said “Unfortunately, public anxiety on the danger of nuclear power is disproportionate to historical evidence and the scientific discipline”.
Mrs McArthur has told parliament that Cold War scaremongering focuses on isolated nuclear disasters - such as Chernobyl and Fukushima – and the linking of nuclear power generation with nuclear armament and war.
“Chernobyl was caused by human error in an antiquated reactor constructed in the 1950’s and run by the Soviet Union Communists.
“You couldn’t imagine a more different scenario in Victoria with modern technology and standards,” she said.
“The Fukushima meltdown is another favourite of the scaremongers who choose to ignore that the plant was built in the 1960’s with design flaws, constructed on a fault line, and victim of one of the worst recorded earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan’s history.
“Of the 18,500 people who died, just one of those was related to the nuclear site, the rest due to the tsunami.
“But these are not the statistics that opponents to nuclear energy want you to know,” she said.
Mrs McArthur said Victoria’s energy challenges demand serious consideration of all energy options in an agnostic, science-led approach.
“To do otherwise will condemn Victorians to a third world energy supply”.
Mrs McArthur noted that both the NSW and Commonwealth Governments had accepted Inquiry reports which outline the benefits of nuclear energy.
“Victoria must not be left behind.
“No country has successfully decarbonised without utilising nuclear energy.”
The Committee took evidence that France emits 55 per cent less CO2 per capita than Germany, achieving the result with 72 per cent of its energy from nuclear. Germany still relies on coal more than any other source because its huge wind and solar investments are unable to provide constant supply.
“The prohibition must be lifted to allow this State to power itself - affordably, reliably and cleanly into the future,” Mrs Mc Arthur said.
5 February 2021