OMEN
06-06-2006, 08:22 AM
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Another alternative ... Australia's coal industry speaks out
FORMER Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski will chair a Federal Government inquiry into nuclear energy in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard announced today.
Private companies, not the Federal Government, would build any nuclear power stations if the inquiry found that the stations would be economically viable.
"Cabinet has approved the establishment of a prime ministerial taskforce to review uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy in Australia," Mr Howard said.
"The taskforce will be chaired by Dr Ziggy Switkowski, the former managing director of Telstra and a well-respected nuclear physicist." Mr Howard said two other members of the taskforce were the country's foremost nuclear physicist, Professor George Dracoulis, from the Australian National University, and Reserve Bank board member, Professor Warwick McKibben.
Three other members would be named tomorrow.
Australia's chief scientist, Jim Peacock, would support the review.
Mr Howard said he did not expect to have nuclear power stations in Australia within the next two or three years.
He said the taskforce would have extensive terms of reference.
"They recognise that Australia's energy sector has played a key role in our sustained economic growth and our capacity to reliantly access competitively priced power and optimise the value of our energy resources has been a major element in our economic prosperity," he said.
"Australia does hold up to 40 per cent of the world's known, low-cost, recoverable uranium reserves and there is significant potential for Australia to increase and add value to our uranium extraction and exports.
"I don't expect to have nuclear power stations in Australia within the next two or three years."
Mr Howard said the inquiry would look into uranium enrichment and whether nuclear power stations would be economically viable in Australia.
"I've always maintained that holding the reserves of uranium that we do, it is foolish to see ourselves as simply an exporter of uranium," he said.
"I think we should also look at the value-added process, which is principally enrichment, and we should also look at whether (a) nuclear power station in Australia (would) become economically feasible."
He also said private companies would build any nuclear power stations.
"The Commonwealth itself won't be constructing nuclear power stations, they are things that are likely to be constructed by the private sector," he said.
Mr Howard said he wanted the review to be completed by the end of the year.
"I recognise that this is very much one of those reviews that are, time from time, needed in a country's history to see whether we ought to take a change in direction," he said.
Mr Howard said he expected a fear campaign by opponents, but he believed the public's view on the issue had changed.
"I know that the Labor Party and others will run a fear campaign on this, well let them do it. That will not deter me and it will not deter the Government," he said.
"I suspect that the Australian public's attitude has changed a bit on this."
Mr Howard likened the debate over uranium to the wool industry.
"I don't think they want to have a re-run of our historical experience with wool processing, where we had the best wool in the world but we had to send it somewhere else to be processed," he said.
"I think the public is worried about energy security for the years ahead.
"I think they like the idea of the fact that we've got a lot of coal and natural gas. I think they are aware of our rich endowments of uranium."
Mr Howard defended his appointees to the review panel and denied the panel had been cherry-picked to support nuclear power.
"(Of) the three people I've named, two are nuclear physicists," he said.
"I would hardly appoint an urban planner to chair the inquiry ... I have appointed a nuclear physicist to chair the inquiry because he or she knows something about the technical aspects of the subject.
Mr Howard said he wanted people who were experts in the field, as well as being "clear-headed and open-minded", to review nuclear energy.
Asked how many power stations the Government would like to see and where they might be located, Mr Howard said: "I'm not an expert. I will leave those matters to be determined by the committee. "I'm not going to tell them in advance how to deal with those sorts of issues," he said.
"We've had a paucity of debate, a dwindling store of knowledge and an absence of any rigour in the whole discussion for a long time now."
He declined to comment on whether the Government would subsidise the industry.
"Our general policy is that we don't normally start an industry up with government support," he said.
http://network.news.com.au/images/news_sourcelogo.gif
Another alternative ... Australia's coal industry speaks out
FORMER Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski will chair a Federal Government inquiry into nuclear energy in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard announced today.
Private companies, not the Federal Government, would build any nuclear power stations if the inquiry found that the stations would be economically viable.
"Cabinet has approved the establishment of a prime ministerial taskforce to review uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy in Australia," Mr Howard said.
"The taskforce will be chaired by Dr Ziggy Switkowski, the former managing director of Telstra and a well-respected nuclear physicist." Mr Howard said two other members of the taskforce were the country's foremost nuclear physicist, Professor George Dracoulis, from the Australian National University, and Reserve Bank board member, Professor Warwick McKibben.
Three other members would be named tomorrow.
Australia's chief scientist, Jim Peacock, would support the review.
Mr Howard said he did not expect to have nuclear power stations in Australia within the next two or three years.
He said the taskforce would have extensive terms of reference.
"They recognise that Australia's energy sector has played a key role in our sustained economic growth and our capacity to reliantly access competitively priced power and optimise the value of our energy resources has been a major element in our economic prosperity," he said.
"Australia does hold up to 40 per cent of the world's known, low-cost, recoverable uranium reserves and there is significant potential for Australia to increase and add value to our uranium extraction and exports.
"I don't expect to have nuclear power stations in Australia within the next two or three years."
Mr Howard said the inquiry would look into uranium enrichment and whether nuclear power stations would be economically viable in Australia.
"I've always maintained that holding the reserves of uranium that we do, it is foolish to see ourselves as simply an exporter of uranium," he said.
"I think we should also look at the value-added process, which is principally enrichment, and we should also look at whether (a) nuclear power station in Australia (would) become economically feasible."
He also said private companies would build any nuclear power stations.
"The Commonwealth itself won't be constructing nuclear power stations, they are things that are likely to be constructed by the private sector," he said.
Mr Howard said he wanted the review to be completed by the end of the year.
"I recognise that this is very much one of those reviews that are, time from time, needed in a country's history to see whether we ought to take a change in direction," he said.
Mr Howard said he expected a fear campaign by opponents, but he believed the public's view on the issue had changed.
"I know that the Labor Party and others will run a fear campaign on this, well let them do it. That will not deter me and it will not deter the Government," he said.
"I suspect that the Australian public's attitude has changed a bit on this."
Mr Howard likened the debate over uranium to the wool industry.
"I don't think they want to have a re-run of our historical experience with wool processing, where we had the best wool in the world but we had to send it somewhere else to be processed," he said.
"I think the public is worried about energy security for the years ahead.
"I think they like the idea of the fact that we've got a lot of coal and natural gas. I think they are aware of our rich endowments of uranium."
Mr Howard defended his appointees to the review panel and denied the panel had been cherry-picked to support nuclear power.
"(Of) the three people I've named, two are nuclear physicists," he said.
"I would hardly appoint an urban planner to chair the inquiry ... I have appointed a nuclear physicist to chair the inquiry because he or she knows something about the technical aspects of the subject.
Mr Howard said he wanted people who were experts in the field, as well as being "clear-headed and open-minded", to review nuclear energy.
Asked how many power stations the Government would like to see and where they might be located, Mr Howard said: "I'm not an expert. I will leave those matters to be determined by the committee. "I'm not going to tell them in advance how to deal with those sorts of issues," he said.
"We've had a paucity of debate, a dwindling store of knowledge and an absence of any rigour in the whole discussion for a long time now."
He declined to comment on whether the Government would subsidise the industry.
"Our general policy is that we don't normally start an industry up with government support," he said.
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