Nuclear Reactor – will it be in your backyard? - 24 May 2006

Any government prepared to enter into the nuclear debate must also be prepared to name which communities it will impose any proposed nuclear facilities upon, said Greens MLC Ian Cohen today.

“No community in Australia will be willing to put up with a nuclear reactor in its backyard. The fury expressed by residents in and around Port Stephens will be echoed no matter where you go.” Mr Cohen said.

“The Australia Institute’s naming of Port Stephens as an appropriate place for a nuclear power plant according to energy experts brings to the fore the debate which must occur about the location of any proposed nuclear facilities. It’s all very well for the federal government to talk about nuclear energy as an inevitability in abstract terms, but when you start looking at whose backyard the plant would actually be located in, the argument for nuclear power looks a lot shakier.

“At present the construction of a nuclear power facility in NSW would be illegal under the Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act 1986. It is crucial that the NSW government stand up against any moves by the federal government to implement its crazy nuclear agenda.

“I am greatly concerned about some elements of the ALP and of this state government supporting nuclear power. None of the problems of safety and disposal of nuclear waste have been dealt with in the decades that nuclear power has been around. I implore the state government to show leadership on this issue and categorically reject nuclear power.

“Today I asked Treasurer and Minister for the Hunter Michael Costa a question in Parliament about whether he supported the location of a nuclear power plant in Port Stephens or any other part of the Hunter. He skirted around the issue and failed to answer the question. This is hardly comforting for residents of the Hunter region.” Mr Cohen said.