The world has been brainwashed into believing that nuclear power generation is unsafe. A single incident at Chernobyl - which did little long term damage - has been blown out of all proportion to vilify a way of saving the world from global warming.
Burning coal to generate electricity is one of the biggest producers of Co2 gas on the planet, followed by the use of the internal combustion engine to power the car fleet. The move to electric cars will reduce Co2 emissions over the long term, but if we continue to burn coal for electricity the real savings will be much less.
Nuclear power generation is a fact and has worked successfully for generations.
The biggest user if France - with fifty-nine nuclear power plants producing 77% of that country's electricity.
Other major users are South Korea with twenty reactors producing 35% of it's needs, Japan with fifty five reactors producing 28% and the United States with one hundred and four reactors - producing a tiny 19% of it's electricity supplies.
Australia - with about a third of the world's uranium - has no reactors producing electricity.
If we are serious about digging our way out of this economic meltdown hole, and if we really do want to save the planet from global warming - then all logic says that we need to commit the huge amounts of development money being proposed to replacing this nation's coal burning power stations with nuclear facilities.
Forget " cap and trade ". Replacing coal with nuclear and car engines with electric motors will more than substitute the Co2 emission savings likely to occur by carbon trading - without the damage this scheme would cause to our exports and world economic viability.
If major world countries have been able to successfully and safely use nuclear power generation for decades - then a reasonable question would be - " Why can't we ? "
Nuclear waste can hardly be cited as the problem. We live in one of the earth's biggest continents - and a large part of it is uninhabited desert !
It's simply a matter of taking the blinkers off and facing reality. Renewable wind, solar and wave action are decades away from being able to supply base load power and the only sustainable option at present is nuclear.
It's time we got over our paranoia about bogey men under the bed and grasped reality.
The economic meltdown is providing a great chance to make a decision that will not only provide jobs - but secure the future of this great country for centuries to come !
The only question is - whether we have the wisdom to take it !
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