Nuclear power.

There seems a certain inevitability that the world is about to embrace nuclear power generation to phase out CO2 producing coal - and secure the continuous 24/7 baseload that underpins a modern society.

The United Kingdom is about to commit to building ten new nuclear power plants. Germany is in the process of reversing a decision to phase out existing nuclear power plants and will move in the opposite direction - and France, the world leader is drawing 80% of it's power needs from uranium - will lift that figure even higher.

Australia is still mired in a fear of things nuclear, but opinions are changing. Research shows that 40.1% of Newcastle people now think nuclear is an acceptable option. Here in the Illawarra acceptance stands at just 30%.

Wind/wave/solar will continue to increase and deliver a proportion of our electricity needs, but we would be courting disaster if we relied on these sources to deliver a reliable baseload. Our needs are ever expanding and the sheer volume of wind farms and solar arrays needed would be overwhelming.

We had a taste of what would happen without reliable electricity when a contractor disrupted a key cable and plunged central Sydney into darkness recently. Without electricity the city simply stopped. Stores closed because cash registers and EFTPOS failed. Computers shut down. ATM's stopped working. Offices and homes went dark - and most forms of commerce stopped.

There are major cities in the world where electricity is under supplied and subject to rolling blackouts. Their governments failed to adequately plan and spend to create the necessary structures - and we know them under the title " third world ".

That is something that must not be allowed to happen here !

We have a rapidly expanding country, nearly a third of the world's uranium - and a huge continent in which to bury nuclear waste.

It is hard to find a valid reason why we should not join the rest of the world and accept the logical method of ensuring electricity production can meet our baseload needs.

To do less would be to sell this country short !