Everything in Australia now is about ideology and name calling. Policies and what is best for the country doesn't get a look in.

“Expert bodies”? More like dead bodies.

I think when some small nuclear plants are up and running in the northern hemisphere things will happen fast. Currently about 60% of our electricity comes from burning coal with most plants to close before 2040. Bizarrely taxpayers may pay for coal plant repairs, a kind of reverse carbon tax. Wind and solar need a 4-5X build and recent events suggest we need a month of energy storage at mind boggling cost. Gas is getting expensive with southern cities about to run out. Short of recession I'm not sure what the non-nuclear options are.

I have made a suggestion on a public forum that small nuclear be considered for the Spencer Gulf SA desalination plant, as opposed to a 'hydrogen power station'. This morning's ABC news confirms a $5bn prepayment to the UK for work on submarine reactors. When the panic button hits things could move more quickly.

Of course nuclear energy in Australia is a political issue! What else can it be? Nuclear energy is banned in Australia because a government made that decision. The question now is, does that decision of 1998 properly reflect public opinion today. Much has changed in those 26 years, primarily the new need to reduce carbon emissions. The means adopted to enable that have enjoyed popular and hence political support. Politics again. Will renewables do the job? Governments think so. Politics yet again. It's wall to wall politics. Wishing it wasn't is pointless. But only two political decisions matter. How best can emissions reduction be achieved? And will it be worth it?

Electricity produced by wind was, in the last quarter, the lowest since 2017.

Albanese is inordinately pleased to announce a moratorium on mining the rich Jabiluka uranium deposit. By my calcs the mine could sell $36bn of yellowcake over its life and save 127bn tonnes of CO2 if it displaces coal, here or abroad. Albanese tells us he is concerned about CO2 but doesn't blink an eyelid when approving new coal or gas projects. The money could also help with things like housing. I suggest he is not the full quid.

Albanese is not even the full shilling, let alone part of 20 of them.

I don't know where the rube and his mates think Australia's income will come from if we stop digging up minerals and exporting them.

We manufacture almost nothing; we import food; the so called education 'export' is really money earned here by students - who, by the way are so poor that they are raiding the volunteer food banks.

Taxation I presume, and that will drop off: unemployment is rising, with all those immigrants and foreign students vying for jobs with the locals, as more businesses close down because of expensive electricity, red tape and government interference.

Only voters can solve the problems by NOT voting for the duopoly or the Greens, or the Teals.

Taswegian,

"I suggest he is not the full quid."

Maybe Xi whispered a few words in Albo's ear, or even in PenPen's ear for that matter. We can't put all those solar panel and wind turbine sales at risk can we?

I just cannot believe that Albo and the government can be so stupid
to insist that Dutton tell them how much it will cost !
When you plan a major project, especially in a new geographical area,
you do not advertise what you think maybe the price you get offered
in Tenders that you will call for when ready to go !
How stupid would you be to give the tenderer a hint on expected price.
For Labours info, 1. you call for indications of interest.
2. You ask for technical details of the respondents previous builds.
3. After technical discussions with builders you firm up your specifications.
4. You call for tenders.
That with variations is how you do it !

ELECTRICITY PRICE AND DEMAND
Spot Price (30min)
$45.00/MWh
Scheduled Demand (30min)
7,710.71 MW
Forecast Spot Price (Pre-dispatch)
$56.00/MWh
Scheduled Demand (Pre-dispatch)
7,649.20 MW
FOR NSW As of 29.07.24 1.30 pm

Germany has a very large problem and no one knows what to do about it. The salt mine storage dump is leaking water and has to be removed every day.

We do not need this mess here in AU

501,627 views Apr 19, 2024 #asse #planeta #nuclearwaste
Germany has a dirty little secret. In the middle of the country, deep underground, a radioactive waste dump has been leaking for decades. And nobody really knows what do to with it. #planeta #nuclearwaste #asse We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

There is no way to get out of this mess.
The time needed for the Libs to get back into government and then get
the law against nuclear repealed in both houses, then get our needs
planned, study available plants, firm up our needs and then call for
tenders, accept one or two and then get them built is too long.
Our economy will have collapsed through trying to rely on W & S.
Will our economy be able to meet the costs of the tenders ?
We will have to press on with w & s despite blackouts.
True the coal plants that were not blown up will be pressed on despite
the maintenance costs. They could probably be kept going till the
end of the century. New boilers might be needed but the rest could
be kept going for 100+ years.
I predict that the Greens will push, as in Germany, for nuclear to be built.
Labour will become a very minor party still opposed to nuclear with
perhaps 4 or 5 seats in the house and a couple in the senate.
Together with a reputation of having got us into this mess.

4,347,770 views Aug 29, 2018
The United States produces 2,200 tons of nuclear waste each year…and no one knows what to do with it. The federal government has long promised, but never delivered, a safe place for nuclear power plants to store their spent fuel. This means that radioactive waste is piling up all over the country. We visited one of the worst places where the waste is stuck: a beachside power plant uncomfortably close to both San Diego and Los Angeles. And we asked the people in charge of the waste there: what happens now?