In response to this morning’s announcement from federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of nuclear sites including Muja, near Collie in WA, the following statement is attributable to Mia Pepper, the Campaign Director for the Conservation Council of WA:
“The Coalitions nuclear power plans released this morning are a clear plan to distract and delay from real action on climate change.
“Nuclear power is expensive, slow and dangerous and simply cannot deliver the energy needed in the time frame we have to decarbonise. We have cheaper, safer, cleaner alternatives that are already delivering energy to hundreds of thousands of Australians.
“People in Collie, and all West Australians, would have every right to be angry and alarmed by the Liberals nuclear power plan which is being released in sound bites without any consultation. This plan shows a complete disregard for the Collie community’s safety and input in their future energy options.
"The WA Liberals have already ruled out nuclear power for WA. Peter Dutton’s irresponsible reactor plan has failed to convince his own party – and it certainly hasn’t convinced the wider WA community. The Liberal party energy policy is nothing more than a dangerous distraction and delay from the much-needed transition out of fossil fuels.
“The latest costings for Small Modular Reactors from the CSIRO put had them as the most expensive possible energy option and it’s an energy option that doesn’t quite exist. The industry promised SMRs were ten years away over a decade ago. There are no SMRs, nor are there the factories that would produce them. The idea there would be an SMR at Muja in 2035 is fanciful.
“There is no workforce, there are huge complexities with safety and security, the need for new laws and regulators who understand them. We don’t have 15 years to wait for an energy option that is dirty, dangerous, thirsty and increasingly insecure in a changing climate. Nuclear requires huge volumes of water for cooling, in an uncertain climate future nuclear becomes one of the most dangerous and unreliable forms of energy.
“There remain significant and unresolved issue with the management of High-Level Nuclear waste, insurmountable issues with security, and deep connections to the production of weapons grade materials. The risks of things going wrong are catastrophic.”
ENDS
CONTACT: For any enquiries relating to this release please contact 0412 272 570 or by email on [email protected]
MEDIA INFORMATION: The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost nonprofit, non-government conservation organisation representing nearly 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia.
For more information, visit: ccwa.org.au.