South Australia to review nuclear power policy

OREANDA-NEWS. The South Australia state government aims to review its policy on nuclear power generation, amid growing debate about the impact of growing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels.

Australia is one of the world's largest uranium exporters, but its abundance of coal and natural gas and successive government policies banning uranium as a domestic power generation fuel have previously but nuclear energy off the political agenda.

But South Australia premier Jay Weatherill said the South Australian government is setting up a royal commission to consider what role the state can and should play in the fuel cycle of nuclear energy.

South Australia has one of the largest uranium deposits at Olympic Dam in the world and after more than 25 years of uranium production, it is now time to debate the state's future role in the nuclear industry, Weatherill said. "Some people describe the potential economic benefits as enormous while others describe the risks as unacceptable."

The review will seek to provide a clearer understanding of the world's demand and use of nuclear energy and a deeper understanding of the state's and the nation's energy needs and how they are likely to develop in the future, Weatherill said.

South Australia has one of the largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country and the scope of any new power generation will depend on a change on policy to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. Australia utility AGL Energy in December said it would mothball in 2017 four gas-fired generation units at its eight-unit 1,280MW Torrens Island power station in South Australia because of lower electricity demand.