What a pity the anti-nuclear power protest movement (as distinct from the anti-nuclear weapons protest movement), don't understand the damage they and their predecessors have done to human well-being and the environment as a result of their uninformed beliefs and anti-nuke dogma.

Nuclear power learning rates and deployment rates were disrupted starting in the late 1960's as a result of the anti-nuclear power protest movement. (See the figures in the link below).

From the abstract:
"Learning rates and deployment rates changed in the late-1960s and 1970s from rapidly falling costs and accelerating deployment to rapidly rising costs and stalled deployment. If the early rates had continued, nuclear power could now be around 10% of its current cost. The additional nuclear power could have substituted for 69,000–186,000 TWh of coal and gas generation, thereby avoiding up to 9.5 million deaths and 174 Gt CO2 emissions. In 2015 alone, nuclear power could have replaced up to 100% of coal-generated and 76% of gas-generated electricity, thereby avoiding up to 540,000 deaths and 11 Gt CO2. Rapid progress was achieved in the past and could be again, with appropriate policies. "
https://cama.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/cama_crawford_anu_edu_au/2017-01/4_2017_lang_0.pdf

Jim Green is a long-time professional anti-nuclear lobbyist. He has zero credibility in the field.

This is nothing more than the next episode in a long, skewed series of articles by Jim Green, whose continuing employment as an anti-nuclear agitator relies on his ability to construct misleading arguments to support his employers' position.

The primary thrust of this article is to damn all present and future nuclear power by assertions of association with military weapons programs, which is stretching the truth more than somewhat.

Put simply, nuclear power plant have been producing extremely reliable and safe electricity for decades without leakage of material into the military programs, which themselves are shrinking - with the minor exception of a certain idiotic nation-state that insists on using nuclear bomb tests as levers to enhance its already formidable notoriety.

Nuclear power, despite Jim Green's wishes and ranting to the contrary, has been of major benefit to the world and will continue in that role.

As for the observation that only three Australian mines are still producing... so what? Australia is still #3 globally. Besides which, as Generation IV power plants expand, so will the use of recycled uranium. Gen IV reactors enable more than 100 times as much energy to be obtained from a given quantity of fuel. Thus, mining is far less necessary.

Nothing to see here, folks... carry on.

People who refer to Trump, the leader of the free world, as “another madman” are not people to be take seriously.

you're right he's in a class of his own.

Australia's contribution to Nuclear proliferation risks is negligible! We're protected by the mutual destruction rationale.

South Australia's economy is going backwards at a rate of knots, with the uranium mined there, almost her only industry able to earn a few scarce export credits? The anti development brigade want that gone as well!

They/we could earn considerably more, if their and our parliaments weren't logic and science free zones? And just agree to store other nation's nuclear waste here?

And with that done and this material stockpiled? Build a dozen, walk away safe, molten salt thorium reactors here?

My preference would be the (factory built, mass produced here) 350 MW FUJI. And because a number of highly credentialled Nuclear scientists prefer it?
(Type, the case for thorium, into your search engine, then scroll down the page to a free PDF)

Then with those fueled for the next 100 years, with around thirty tons of thorium each? Start dribbling in imported waste, to burn and reburn it until every remaining erg of recoverable energy (85%) is completely extracted, and while that energy powers our cities and energy dependant industry for free, given we would have received billions as annual incomes for the service!

Always providing, we are intelligently led and resist calls to privatise the never ending income stream! The principle cause of the current crisis!

There is enough thorium in our dirt to power the planet with carbon free power for a thousand years, and around twice that if we use it to reprocess and reprocess nuclear waste and weapons grade plutonium! Until the remaining material has a half life of just 300 years! All of it!

And that my friends is how you honor a genuine non proliferation activity positively! And create a veritable mountain of nuclear medicine miracle cures as a side effect!

Moreover, without shutting a single reactor down! Miracle medicine that motivates the cashed up unwell to visit here to avail themselves of this life saving boon!

Energy crisis? What energy crisis? The only crisis is a leadership and rational thinking crisis?
Alan B.