<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/18/renewables-caught-in-misinformation-crossfire-from-australias-nuclear-cheerleaders>
"Advocacy for the Coalition’s hopes to build nuclear power plants is
increasingly coming with large side-orders of misinformation, not just on the
speed or costs of nuclear but on renewables.
Dr Adi Paterson, the chair of the Nuclear for Australia advocacy group, has
taken to attacking the credentials of CSIRO experts while going hyperbolic with
his rhetoric.
When Paterson told
Sky News he thought the agency’s report on the costs of
different electricity generation technologies was “a form of fascism” there was
not a whisper of disapproval from the surrounding studio panel. Mussolini would
be turning in his grave.
The definitely-not-fascist GenCost report has found electricity from nuclear
would be far more expensive than solar and wind, taking into account the cost
of extra transmission lines and technologies to connect, store and rerelease
renewable power.
Paterson claimed on the Sky news show
Outsiders that the GenCost report
“looks at one reactor in Finland”. In fact, the report had based the cost of
large-scale reactors in Australia on South Korea’s long-running nuclear program
– one of the most successful in the world.
Entrepreneur Dick Smith, a patron of Nuclear for Australia, has also tried to
claim CSIRO used a “worst-case scenario” for nuclear costs. One leading energy
analyst has previously told
Temperature Check the opposite was more likely
the case.
Paterson, a former boss of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation, said in any case, he wanted to see Australia consider 5MW
micro-reactors (less than the size of a large wind turbine, suggesting Paterson
would like to see Australia scattered with tiny nuclear reactors).
He then pointed to Bill Gates’ Terrapower company and its project in Wyoming
(which has a much higher proposed generation capacity of 345 MW), saying it was
currently licensed and “being built now”.
In fact, as Terrapower’s chief executive told CNBC a couple of months ago, the
company has only just submitted its construction permit application to the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and hopes to get approval in 2026. They are doing
some construction at the site, but none of it relates to the nuclear aspects of
the plant."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
