No nuke plant in 100 years [21may06]

FINANCE Minister Senator Nick Minchin has flatly ruled out the need for an Australian nuclear power station "for at least 100 years".His views are in contrast to Prime Minister John Howard, who on Friday said an Australian nuclear power station was "inevitable".
Senator Minchin made his remarks during an interview with the Sunday Mail this week, before Mr Howard said in Canada rising oil prices were making nuclear power more attractive.
Mr Howard said the push to take up nuclear power was gathering momentum, though the timing would be governed by economic considerations.
"I think it is inevitable," Mr Howard said in Ottawa.
');
document.write('');
// End Hide -->
on error resume next
if ( 5 = 3 ) then plugin = ( IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.3")))
if (( 5





"Clearly the environmental advantages of nuclear power are there for all to see.
"It is cleaner and greener, and therefore some people who in the past opposed it should support it."
Mr Howard said oil prices were transforming the debate on energy, and nuclear power "could be closer than some people would have thought a short while ago".
He repeated this view yesterday, saying "the scene on nuclear energy in Australia is going to change significantly".
"The pressure for change is driven in part by environmental considerations, in part by the soaring price of fuel, in part by a realisation that confronting the problem of high energy pricing is one of the big economic challenges of nations such as Canada and Australia," Mr Howard said.
"I want a full-blooded debate in Australia about this issue."
However, Senator Minchin believes simple economics plus waste means there is no need for a domestic nuclear power plant.
"I'm a supporter of exporting our uranium under the safeguard arrangements we have and only to signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty," he said.
"However, I don't really see much point to a discussion about nuclear power in this country at the moment because I cannot see it will be economically viable for a very, very long time.
"We have some of the best and most abundant coal and gas reserves in the world, and you'd have to tax them out of existence to make nuclear power viable.
"I cannot see how nuclear power could possibly be viable in this country for at least 100 years."
The waste issue would also torpedo the notion of a nuclear power plant, Senator Minchin said. He noted that efforts to get even a low-level depository for radioactive waste from places such as hospitals had faced huge community and political opposition.
"My experience with dealing with just low-level radioactive waste from our research reactor tells me it would be impossible to get any sort of consensus in this country around the management of the high-level waste a nuclear reactor would produce," he said.
"I think we could waste a lot of time and hot air debating nuclear power, when really it's just not going to be on the horizon economically for a very long time."
Australia has about 40 per cent of the world's uranium supplies – the bulk in SA.
The lure of uranium is helping drive a resources exploration boom in SA, while BHP Billiton is considering a $5 billion expansion of its uranium-rich Roxby Downs mine.