Very sad commentary, but particularly at this time where Labor could win by default? De fault of the visionless right! And a do nothing real, policy paradigm?

Thus the essential changes and reforms will be kicked even further down the road as we Ordinary Australians are sold down the river of no return? By unprincipled prevaricating political allegorical representatives.

Hopefully, we have two remedies against all of this nonsense.

The first being, get up off the too tired/can't be bothered, lard ass and get out and vote!

The second? Put the serving incumbent last and their preference partners next last on the ballot paper! And arguably all we Australians have as a remedy for this mindless nonsense!

Or, just roll over and beg for a tummy rub? Who gives a rats?
Alan B.

The SA Libs would have to be hopeless for Weatherill to be re-elected. SA's power woes are all the talk of international articles such as the second half of this
http://www.theenergycollective.com/davidhone/2408629/mainstream-energy-climate-reporting-leaves-much-desired
Nary a mention of SA having 25% of the world's uranium.

I think the dominant political force in SA at the moment are the Baby Boomer and GenXes who have homes in the hills or the coast. They are sitting pretty with paid off mortgages and solar panels while in the distance windmills whir away. Every year the foreign bicycle mob descends for the Tour Down Under. Too bad if young people have to move interstate for jobs and electricity is expensive. Weatherill could be the new Tom Playford for political longevity.

Don't blame you for getting off topic Tass. We've wasted too much time on this non issue and much more important real world issues remain unresolved!

That said, I don't know how much as a percentage of the world's mineral resources, measured as uranium, S.A. has, but given thorium is three times more abundant, likely to have a reasonable share of that as well?

And vastly less costly than uranium, inasmuch as thorium, is mostly consumed in walk away safe, molten salt reactors, that operate at normal atmospheric pressure. Whereas, uranium only consumes around 5% of the fuel type leaving the rest as problematic highly toxic nuclear waste or plutonium? That then remain toxic for thousands of years!

Even so with just 5% of the energy in uranium available/consumed, refueling might only need to take place at 25 year intervals?

Imagine then, as thorium is consumed the thorium reactor uses around 95% of the thorium, with refueling needed over 100 years on. And if also tasked as LFTRS, can and will unlock the remaining energy quotient in nuclear waste! And have other nations pay us billions per for solving a world wide problem for them all while denying terrorists, material for dirty bombs!

Virtually free, safe, clean power anyone?

Mass production, with molten salt also the heat transferring medium, should mean they can be sited anywhere and arguably at significantly less cost than comparable coal or gas? Given virtually all the costs are up front!

Why the security guard out front costs more than the fuel.

And easy to find using side looking radar and aerial surveys.

It's completely delusional to believe anything other than perpetually prevaricating politicians, prevent this walk away safe nuclear technology being rolled and providing power for as little as 3 cents KPH retail!

See thorium in four minutes and or, Super fuel subtitled, green energy, or if technically minded, enter, the case for thorium, into your search engine, then scroll down the page to a free downloadable PDF. Which includes a colour coded schematic for a 230 MW molten salt reactor!
Cheers, Alan B.

Alan B as it happens SA has plenty of thorium as well. There's 1500 tonnes of ThO2 just at the old Pt Pirie plant, in monazite sand at Iluka and in the Olympic Dam tailings backfill. SA should get a reactor that can use thorium, natural uranium and spent uranium. The enhanced uranium reactors would be at sites like Hazelwood, Victoria with the used fuel sent back to SA for reprocessing. Any leftovers could sent down a deep hole in the Woomera area.

SA would be doing both the state and the whole country a favour by completing the nuclear fuel cycle in this way. I suspect the new batteries will disappoint if SA has a hot summer while the price of gas keeps going up. Both Marshall and Weatherill seem to grasp this possibility maybe neither can make it happen.

Aside from politics in South Australia - the record of Catholic priestly interference is a worry once children are actually born in South Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sexual_abuse_cases_in_Australia#Archdiocese_of_Adelaide

"Archdiocese of Adelaide" [edit]

See also: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide

"On 13 September 2011, Senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to name an Adelaide priest as the alleged perpetrator of six sexual assaults on John Hepworth about 50 years earlier. Senator Xenophon alleged that the Vicar-General of Adelaide, Monsignor David Cappo, had been provided with detailed allegations in 2008 but had failed to act upon them, the investigations still being "at a preliminary stage" and the priest concerned not being stood down during the investigation.[18] Monsignor Cappo subsequently resigned from several governmental positions.[19]

The Catholic church established a formal independent inquiry, conducted by Michael Abbott, QC, found that there was no substance to the allegations.[20]

Father Albert Davis (d. 2007), a member of the Dominican Fathers, was charged in 2006 with 17 incidents of indecent assault involving seven boys at Blackfriars Priory School between 1956 and 1960. Davis was committed to stand trial in the Adelaide District Court, but he died before proceedings were commenced.[21]

Father Charles Barnett pleaded guilty in 2009 (after extradition from Indonesia) to three child sex charges for events between 1977 and 1985 at Crystal Brook and Port Pirie.[22]"

So, Malcolm does not like the Shoppies.

Nor does he like the Right wing ALP.

Big deal !

Malcolm dredges up 60 year old history to justify his beliefs

That's his problem.

This Article is a waste of space !

Tass, the Indians are trialing your suggestion and are experiencing technical difficulties given thorium is fertile and enriched uranium is fissile. And they are combining both products in still unsafe fuel rods.

Yes we used to need a little enriched uranium to get the thing started but now only need a thorium isotope.

Moreover thorium can be used as is, in its natural state, without cost adding enrichment. We could enrich uranium for offshore customers using the locally invented vastly superior pulsed laser light method, to value add an export? Not for us!

And why would you want to go down that path which might also include the possibilities of a weapons spin off. And consequently create an arms race with some powerful neighbors? Lets just not go there!

Better to use spent uranium and get paid billions for dealing with other folks waste and given it can be reprocessed and reprocessed time and again, after someone else has carried the complete cost of enrichment! And be paid annual billions for yonks!

Seems to make more economic sense and a win/win/win outcome? Besides, it is possible to also reprocess Plutonium and in so doing, render it inoperable as fissile material that can be compressed to create a thermonuclear devise.

Leaders need to lead and get The tanking S.A. economy up and running once more. As opposed to creating a new ideas free zone!

And better than taxing banks/further shrinking a tanking econmy!

When just reprocessing other nation's spent fuel rods could earn billions more.

Australian manufacturers and business proprietors will not complain if power prices can descend down through a 3 cent KPH floor! Ditto most pensioners, the disabled and unemployed!
Cheers, Alan B.

Taswegy-mate and Alan B.

The good thing about Thorium reactors is they still allow the Uranium 235 and Plutonium bomb industries to sleep soundly at night.

Countries like India can justify their nuclear (Uranium 235 and/or Plutonium) BOMB making processes because "safe" Thorium reactions require very unsafe Uranium 235 and/or Plutonium inputs.

This is because Uranium 235 or Plutonium, must be added to a Thorium reactor fuel cycle to "achieve criticality".

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium_fuel_cycle#Disadvantages :)

Cheers

Poida

Oh dear Aspley, is that it?

I'm indifferent to the right of the ALP, Catholics (a Mick myself until seven) or the Shoppies. SA is disconnecting from the Federation and this is a classic example. While the rest of Australia is becoming more secularised, in SA there's a major faction of ALP MPs, which is knocking back legislation on ecclesiastical grounds.

The Church has major legal and reputation problems across the world, so it's highly unusual that we find it operating defacto, through a union and in a state government.

Sorry Pete your thorium science is very dated.

Firstly, thorium now only needs a thorium isotope, thorium 303 to kick start a chain reaction, which can only occur in a molten salt reactor inside the graphite core, given it still needs critical mass to create a chain reaction.

And as the medium flows in and out of the core, that that is outside and circulating inside smaller pipes, ceases to react, for lack of critical mass!

Moreover, the 1950's technology, design features of a molten salt reactor, includes a drainage pipe, where circulating cool air is intensely directed, meaning any shut down of power for any reason! Results automatically, in that fan also stopping, allowing the crystallized salt plug to melt and thereby enabling the entire liquid content to very safely drain into a purpose built reservoir. Where the liquid salt quickly crystallizes! And the reason why its called walk away safe!

Interestingly, solar thermal power plants with a base load capacity, also incorporate, liquid thorium lithium fluoride salt, in the central tower, which seems to be excited by very concentrated sunlight; and the reason it can and does maintain critical base load temperatures for up to a week?

Day or night or during extended cloudy periods. Not too many of those in California or Arizona deserts, nor here in our sun drenched outback!

One can hope no mad scientist decides to include enriched uranium or plutonium in a "Green preferred" solar thermal tower, thus creating your dreaded uranium/plutonium, exploding fertile material, scary scenario! Boom boom! Ha, ha, ha, he, he, he, ho, ho, ho, ho! Oh my aching ribs!

What will they, solar panel installers, with everything to lose, try on next?
Alan B.

As a South Australian, there's a lot of sweeping statements in this article that I neither see actual hard evidence for, or even as on-the-ground observations.

Eg that SA is de-coupling from the Federation ... that a crime and punishment regime is in full swing. It does seem very overblown.