Business will back nuclear power, if it's competitive: ACCI

Business would back nuclear power in Australia provided it was competitive against other energy sources, says the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.Chamber chief executive Peter Hendy said today nuclear power should be an option worth considering, particularly as a public-private partnership.Prime Minister John Howard will take a proposal to cabinet for a wide-ranging investigation by a panel of experts, but he has refused to say where he thinks any potential reactors should be located.A scientific review recommended at least three and possibly five plants would be required, and the opposition says potential sites must be part of the inquiry's terms of reference.Mr Hendy said the chamber believed the nuclear option should be explored."The fact is nuclear power should be an option in terms of establishing what the long term energy options are for Australia," he told reporters.But Mr Hendy said even though nuclear should be an option, it had stack-up financially."We have to establish that it's a viable alternative in Australia, given the other natural resources we have like black coal and brown coal and gas," he said."We are blessed in this country with an enormous amount of wealth and we don't just have uranium obviously, we have those other energy sources."If the cost-benefits stack-up then you would move to where you would place nuclear power plants in terms of the energy grid, but that's a long time off."Mr Hendy said there was a case of public money to be involved in any nuclear power development."We think there is a case in terms of building infrastructure like energy infrastructure for public-private partnerships, or private sector involvement," he said."But the fact is with energy participation not just nuclear but energy generation generally there is a needed involvement of the government in terms of regulation."