The Border Mail - Using sun�s energy wiser than nuclear alternative

NUCLEAR reactors have no place in Australian communities.
That is why I will fight tooth and nail to ensure the Howard Government does not impose nuclear reactors on our neighbourhoods, our suburbs and our towns.
Mr Howard’s inquiry into the nuclear industry ignores other sources of energy that Australia is abundantly blessed with — gas, coal, solar, and wind.
And technologies, some of which are being developed in Australia, are already making the carbon commodities cleaner, and solar cheaper.
On his overseas visits to the US, Canada and Britain, Mr Howard committed his Government to going down the path of nuclear power generation in Australia.
Mr Howard can have all the side debates he wants but let’s be clear about this: nuclear power generation in Australia means nuclear reactors in our communities.
It is important to be categorical here — I firmly believe nuclear power is the wrong way to go for Australia.
The reasons for my firm belief are simple:
The economics do not stack up;
We have abundant resources;
Waste disposal is not resolved, and;
I have national security concerns.
Mr Howard is engaged in an old backward-looking debate about a 1950s technology when Australia should be value adding to our natural resources through gas to liquid, coal to liquid and solar power.
The Government’s own nuclear technology organisation stated that to make nuclear power economic there would have to be four or five nuclear power stations along the east coast of Australia.
The Australia Institute released a list of potential sites which included Western Port Bay in Victoria, Port Stephens in NSW, the Central Coast and the area south of Wollongong in NSW, the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, and Port Phillip Bay and Portland in Victoria.
These sites were deemed suitable based on proximity to water, the electricity grid and transport access.
Having called for this debate on nuclear power in Australia, John Howard must now give some certainty to those communities by ruling out nuclear reactors in those locations.
I can give this commitment to the people of middle Australia today — that a Beazley government would not build nuclear reactors anywhere in Australia.
Once we have dealt with Mr Howard’s nuclear dream, I think it is crucial to talk about what real options Australia has for our energy future.
Australia’s energy future is vital to the nation-building agenda I have planned for this country.
Australia’s energy future must harness solar panels, not nuclear reactors.
That’s why I will continue to call for and develop new venture capital initiatives to back our bright ideas and ensure they create jobs and wealth for this country, not foreign investors.
So I will back solar energy to the hilt — because I know it could be crucial to powering our future.
On present construction trends, Australia has the potential to have 1.5 million solar powered homes by 2015 and more than 2.25 million by 2020.
And if our houses can be solar powered, why not our schools?
We will work with the public and private school systems to earmark some of the federal funding for capital works in schools for the installation of solar technology and to improving energy efficiency across the board.
It is my firm belief that solar energy must be included in any debate about Australia’s energy future.