ramblings of a bumbler

So George Bush wants Australia to be involved in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, as reported in The Age this morning. Apparently Australia (and Canada) are demurring because they will then have to take back some of the nuclear waste.

Now Australia and Canada between them have about 80% of the world’s uranium reserves. They hold the keys to the world’s future energy needs. they both have vast stretches of very sparsely populated land which could. And they both don’t want to take back the nuclear waste.

Of course there is a natural reluctance to take and store something that is poisonous and is likely to remain so for a very long time. And there is also a very natural aversion to all things nuclear because of the horrendous effects of nuclear warfare, as seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. i think these are valid reservation tyhat people have - valid enough that we should recognise them by building in mechanisms to deal with them as far as we can.

But even as we have these reservations we also must recognise the reality that nuclear energy as a source of energy for the world - in fact as the major source of energy - is inevitable. Pretending it won’t happen won’t make it go away. There is no other source of energy that is massive enough, and accessible enough, to be a serious contender for supplying energy on the massive scale demanded by the emerging and massive economies of China and India, as well as other developing countries around the world. Carbon based fuels cause too much environmental damage already, and those emerging economies have only just started! So-called renewables like solar, wind, wave power are too inaccessible, and even if they could be implemented on a large scale would cause immense environmental damage, while at the same time being too unreliable. But that is a discussion for a later blog.

Which leaves nuclear energy as the only viable large scale energy alternative. A point which is not lost on China and India, who are busily developing nuclear industries to supply their own energy needs. They will need fuel to run those nuclear power plants, and they will need somewhere to dispose of the waste.

So if nuclear energy is the only large scale energy alternative then we should all take our collective heads pout of the sand and actively seek out ways to make it work in the safest, cleanest, and most profitable ways we can. Since we are sitting on 40% of the world’s reserves of uranium, this is both an opportunity of enormous proportions, and a great responsibility.

Its an opportunity because we can not only sell the uranium as a raw material (yellowcake), but we can value add to it by processing it first and storing the waste second. Note the opportunity being offered to us. To be a part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership means that we will become part of the group of nations that will be involved with the development of the nuclear industry. It is proposed that processing of nuclear fuel will be limited to these countries - with the aim to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. There is enormous economic opportunity in this. To be in a position to be one of the world’s largest energy suppliers. Australia should take an opportunity like this with both hands!

But there is also great responsibility here, in two ways. First, if we have a resource that the world needs, we have a responsibility to share that resource with the rest of the world in ways that are economically and environmentally responsible. Secondly we have a responsibility to do whatever we can to make sure that the nuclear material us used in a safe and peaceful manner. One way to make sure that the nuclear waste cannot be used for weapons is to take the waste back and store it safely, where it is inaccessible to those who want to misuse it.

So I reckon Australia should get over its reservations and establish a nuclear waste dump immediately - do the job properly, though! - and begin to tap into an enormously profitable and productive future as a major energy supplier. And help solve the world’s energy problems in the process.

I reckon there will be many who have different points of view on this. Please take a moment to put in a response!

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Everybody is a NIMBY. Not In My Back Yard. We don’t want that poisonous waste thats going to be around for thousands of years polluting our country! If they - China, India, United States, France, UK, etc  - want to have nuclear power let them look after their own waste! Don’t lumber us with it!

Which is a very understandable reaction. But I’d like to think this out a bit further, because when you really think about it having the world’s nuclear waste dump in Australia gives Australia all the benefits.

The world is going to use nuclear energy for power generation. We may not like it, but its happening and will keep on happening in increasing amounts. There are good reasons for using nuclear energy - but thats something I will talk about in another blog in the future. So there will be nuclear waste. Lots of it. So what is the world going to do with its nuclear waste? Its easy for us to say ‘That’s their problem, don’t make it ours!” But its our problem too.

We may not want it in our backyard, but then it will be in someone else’s backyard. Maybe Osama bin Laden’s backyard. Do we really want it there?

But why Australia?

Well, there are some really good reasons.

1. Space where there are very few people. We’ve got it, more so than most.
2. Easily defensible. If its isolated from population centres then its easier to defend and harder for the material to be stolen.
3. Climate. Where the space is the climate is dry and therefore corrosion problems are minimised.
4. Geologically stable. Few earthquakes in these areas.
5. Politically stable. Australia’s political system is stable and is unlikely to have major upsets like coups and military interventions. Therefore it is a much safer option than storing it in a less stable part of the world.
6. There’s an industry in it. We don’t have to store it for nothing. We can charge other countries to store their waste for them. Could be quite profitable.
7. We can work towards a value-added industry. Nuclear waste is poisonous because it still has energy locked away in it. Perhaps there is some way of unlocking that waste so it can be used again. And sold again! With the income gained from storing the waste we can employ the best scientists to find ways of unlocking that energy.
8. We have responsibility to store the waste. After all, we sell the uranium. So the problem is, at least in part, ours as well. We can’t just pass it off to the end user. We supply uranium (actually, I don’t think we should supply uranium. We should supply nuclear fuel, and add the value ourselves. But thats another story which I will get to in a later blog.) But we supply the uranium so we have at least some responsibility for dealing with the waste.

As I said in my introductory blog, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. So this blog isn’t meant to be the definitive solution to anything. But at least its a point of view that needs to be considered. I’d love to have your ideas and your views on this issue. Maybe we can come up with a better solution than hiding our collective heads in the sand and hoping it will go away. It won’t, so we need to do something.

The bumbler.

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Well, I finally made it! Got this &%#*@#!! Wordpress to work and actually start writing a blog! Which is something I have wanted to do for a long time because there are things I want to say that I reckon are important.

So what can you the reader expect? You can expect opinions from me. You don’t have to share those opinions, but they are my genuine opinions. They are not cast in concrete, and I am open minded enough to change them if necessary. You can write and tell me about what you think about my opinions. I hope you do - especially if your opinion is different to mine. All I ask is that you remain polite in what you write. I will moderate the responses to this blog, but only to prevent flaming and obscenity and offensive language, etc. I won’t edit your opinions at all. They will only be left out if they offend as I have just noted.

I have called this blog ‘ramblings of a bumbler’ for a good reason. I am not claiming to be world authority on anything. All I can say is that I have thought about these things for many years - I am 54 now, which gives me a few years to have thought! Actually it makes me pretty ancient to many of you!

Some of the things you will hear from me on are:

• Nuclear energy.
• Caring for our environment.
• Wind energy.
• Solar energy.
• Abortion.
• Creation/ evolution.

and quite a few more besides as we go!

So I am looking forward to many a lively discussion!

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