PowerLinks cites interview of Dr. Switkowski, who said that nuclear power in Australia actually sounds very doable," he said. "It does look like a very promising technology (He is referring to SMRs). They look very safe. There will be less radioactive toxicity in the spent fuel. They will actually be like batteries." Nuclear power is illegal under NSW and federal law. The NSW parliament is considering a proposed law by One Nation MP Mark Latham that would permit a nuclear industry to be developed in the state. Many environmentalists strongly oppose the plan, including the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and the Australian Conservation Foundation, which also gave evidence to the committee on Monday. Nuclear advocates, including Dr Switkowksi, have acknowledged that the big impediments to a nuclear industry are the cost of building reactors and the challenge of getting a wary public to support them.
Exploring for uranium is allowed in NSW, but mining is not. One first step towards developing a nuclear industry in the state could be to allow the uranium-mining industry to expand from South Australia across the border to NSW. Officials from the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment told the inquiry that mining uranium wasn't very different to any other mineral and that two mineral sands mines near Broken Hill bury uranium that is an inadvertent byproduct of their operations.
"Naturally occurring uranium isn’t very radioactive in the raw form," Alex King, the executive director of resources policy, planning and programs, told the inquiry. "It largely isn’t significantly more dangerous than conventional mining." Inquiry chairman Taylor Martin, a Liberal MP, suggested that the federal and state laws be changed to prohibit existing forms of nuclear power technology but allow small modular reactors. The compromise idea is designed to allow Labor MPs to support the development of a nuclear industry without appearing to give in to the demands of the mining industry, which has launched a below-the-radar campaign to legalize nuclear power.
"The answer is yes," Dr Switkowski said, when asked if the idea might work. "If you are able to craft legislation that said the nuclear fuel cycle can be permitted as much as it applied to nuclear reactors 300 megawatts or smaller (aka SMRs), that could be part of the solution."
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