Study finds Australia nuclear power option viable
Source: Reuters
CANBERRA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Australia, with about 40 percent of the world's uranium, could have a viable nuclear enrichment and power industry within 15 years, a government report said on Tuesday, as the cost of cleaner coal and gas power increases. The report by former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski found nuclear power would be competitive with coal-fired power if pollution and carbon emissions were taxed, while enrichment could add A$1.8 billion ($1.4 billion) to the value of uranium exports. It said Australia could have about 25 nuclear reactors, which could supply one third of the nation's electricity by 2050, drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for global warming. "The earliest that nuclear electricity could be delivered to the grid would be 10 years, with 15 years more probable," Switkowski said, adding that the cost of nuclear power would be between 20 and 50 percent higher than coal or gas-fired power. "This gap may close in the decades ahead, but nuclear power, and renewable energy sources, will only become competitive in Australia in a system where the costs of greenhouse gas emissions are explicitly recognised." Australia this year is expected to export about 10,800 tonnes of uranium concentrate, or yellowcake, worth about A$790 million but has no nuclear power or enrichment industry of its own, with only one research reactor in suburban Sydney. Uranium mining in Australia is dominated by the world's biggest mining companies, BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc. <BHP.AX> <BLT.L> and Rio Tinto Ltd./Plc <RIO.AX> <RIO.L>. BHP Billiton owns and operates the world's biggest uranium mine at Roxby Downs in the remote north of the South Australia state, while the Rio-controlled Energy Resources Australia Ltd. <ERA.AX> operates the Ranger mine in the Northern Territory. The third mine, Beverly, is operated by General Atomics. Australia's conservative Prime Minister John Howard set up the Switkowski nuclear inquiry in June to find out if a nuclear industry was viable in Australia and whether nuclear power would be a clean alternative to coal-fired power generation. Howard has said support for nuclear energy was growing because it is a cleaner energy source, while Australia is also one of the world's biggest exporters of coal, used widely in power generation. Howard's conservative government has strongly supported coal companies despite calls for more renewable energy, and has steadfastly refused to apply taxes on carbon emissions, or to allow a national carbon trading to encourage lower emissions. A survey in 2005 found 47 percent of Australians supported nuclear power, while 40 percent opposed it. Environment group Greenpeace on Monday released its own report which said renewable energy could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15 years, while nuclear energy would be dangerous and would not be any cleaner. "In an age of terrorism and fears about nuclear proliferation, and with so many other forms of safe renewable energy available, expanding the nuclear industry in Australia is a dangerous mistake," Greenpeace Australia chief executive Steve Shallhorn said. ($1=A$1.30) ((Reporting by James Grubel, editing by James Thornhill, james.grubel@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: james.grubel.reuters.com@reuters.net, +612 6273 2730))
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