Nuclear power a 'cop out': Beazley

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has stepped up his attack on the Government over its nuclear ambitions, with a warning that his own electorate in Perth could be an ideal site for a nuclear reactor.A Federal Government task force this week said nuclear energy could become a viable industry in Australia within 15 years.
Prime Minister John Howard this week said he expected nuclear power would play a role in Australia's energy future, as it already does in much of Europe and the United States.
Mr Beazley today said Perth could not operate off an eastern states grid and a reactor would therefore have to be built in the city if Australia embraces a nuclear future.
"I know darn well as the member for Brand that where you locate nuclear facilities normally, the proximity to the city, the proximity to water, you will want to dump that facility right in my electorate and I won't be having a bit of it," he said.
Mr Beazley said nuclear technology was a "1960s technology" and Australia should focus on renewable energy.
"If John Howard goes down the nuclear road it will be both dangerous to this country and a cop out," he said.
"We must not send that signal to this region that that is the way we intend to go.
"It's a security issue, not simply an environmental issue."