The world's uranium, he warns, will be exhausted almost as fast as fossil fuels,

This statement is completely unsupportable. RTZ have recently extended the life of the Rossing mine in Namibia. Its ore grade is only 150 pppm. There are many granites around the world that come close to this grade. The US$50/pound uranium prices we are now seing will make more of these low grade deposits economic to mine.

It's a waste - National - smh.com.au

Be warned: choosing nuclear energy is short-sighted and too risky. Louise Williams reports.

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AdvertisementIT'S ONE of the most extraordinary global image makeovers the world has ever seen. Two decades ago the Chernobyl power-plant disaster in Ukraine was the dirty, ugly face of nuclear energy. Governments everywhere retreated so fast from nuclear power that the glut of cheap uranium left on the world market took years to absorb.

Today, nuclear energy is back on the table as the new "green power", an emissions-free alternative to fossil fuels as the threat of global warming dwarfs the dangers of nuclear waste.

Australia, more than any other nation, stands to reap huge profits from a global nuclear power boom, says a visiting German expert, Dr Hermann Scheer. He says Australia is under intense pressure to expand uranium mining, including within sensitive environments such as Kakadu National Park.

"The entire nuclear energy community is pushing Australia to dismantle legal barriers to uranium mining and I am sure the world is prepared to pay a lot of money for that," he says.

Scheer was in Australia last week meeting federal and state MPs, scientists and academics to argue against a "nuclear solution" to climate change and to put forward a radical blueprint for restructuring the power industry.

The world's uranium, he warns, will be exhausted almost as fast as fossil fuels, and nuclear power is an expensive, dangerous and short-sighted alternative to polluting coal- and gas-fired power.

"Uranium will be depleted in 50 years and even earlier if a large number of new nuclear power stations come on line. If Australia does not expand uranium mining beyond its current restricted mining policy, nuclear fuel will run out in as little as 30 years."

Australia has 40 per cent of the world's uranium deposits and uranium prices have trebled over the past two years. Australia is eyeing new export markets in China and, potentially, India, where rapid industrialisation is fast pushing up global greenhouse gas levels. The Prime Minister, John Howard, says he has "no hang-ups" about nuclear energy.

"Those who are calling for a global nuclear renaissance will have a very short run … the technology is incredibly expensive even before the costs of nuclear waste and the risk of the proliferation of illegal nuclear weapons is factored in," Scheer says.

"Even if nuclear power was free it wouldn't be worth the risks."

Scheer, who worked for the German Nuclear Research Centre, is an economist and leading proponent of new economic models for renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.

Germany is one of a handful of nations phasing out coal- and gas-fired power and nuclear power at the same time. Scheer says Germany is increasing its renewable power by 1.5 per cent a year and has already installed enough wind and solar power to replace seven fossil fuel-fired power stations.

Fifteen countries, including Japan, South Korea and Thailand, have recently adopted German-style incentives for renewable energy. That means buying power for the national electricity grid from solar panels and windmills owned by tens of thousands of individual home owners, farmers and businesses.

The incentive is in the price; a much higher price is paid for renewable energy fed into the grid because each small-scale power producer effectively owns a part of the nation's power infrastructure, collectively offsetting the huge costs of building central power plants. The model challenges long-held norms that rely on large companies to deliver electricity.

Howard has referred to the high cost of producing renewable energy. But Scheer says the belief that renewable energy is more expensive than fossil fuels or nuclear power is based on a false comparison. He said the cost comparisons should factor in the billions of dollars governments have provided for nuclear research and development, the costs of future clean-ups and the reality that coal, gas and oil prices will inevitably increase sharply as fossils fuels diminish. He also dismissed the view that the world needs a "nuclear bridge" to give it time to find new, high-tech solutions, such as Australia's proposal to bury carbon emissions.

"We have the technology that is immediately available; it takes only a week to install a windmill and a couple of hours to install solar panels. It takes years to build conventional power stations," he says.

Scheer is dismayed Australia is doing so little to promote renewable energy. "In no country in the world would it be easier to replace conventional energy with free, sustainable energy like wind and solar. Australia has all the preconditions for renewable energy - a large land mass, a small, well-educated population and quality technology."

But Australia's power is among the cheapest in the world. It has abundant reserves of low-cost fuel such as coal, uranium and a multibillion-dollar energy export industry. The Howard Government has made it clear Australia's priority is new technology to make coal and gas cleaner, with renewable energy way down the list.