<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/union-slams-false-hope-in-nuclear-push-warns-energy-jobs-at-risk/>
"Queensland’s sparkies have been warned of the “huge risk” to thousands of jobs
in renewable energy posed by nuclear plans.
The Electrical Trades Union told electricians and apprentices in a mass mailout
on Wednesday that nuclear energy was a “radioactive pipe dream” that could not
replace coal-fired power stations.
National policy director Katie Hepworth says the “false hope” offered by the
LNP on the premise that coal-powered stations can keep running is “letting down
coal communities”.
“The ETU members, our maintenance workers, who work in these power stations
know that they’re being held together by all the will in the world, but they
know they can’t hold on forever,” Dr Hepworth told
AAP.
“There is a huge risk that if what they’re being given is a fantasy of a
nuclear power station without an entire industrial plan and a renewable plan,
that they’re just going to be thrown on the scrap heap again.”
Apprentices are among those voting for the first time on Saturday when
Queensland goes to the polls.
Dr Hepworth said the ETU was trying to give them a vision of the economy they
were stepping into as the next generation of workers.
She said there was “huge excitement” among apprentices in the type of work they
would be able to do, such as working on EVs, installing appliances and building
clean energy generation.
“By calling into question that renewable transition, we’re really putting all
of that at risk,” Dr Hepworth said.
The union’s
Nuclear Energy Report for 2024 found nuclear reactors would be
more expensive, could not be built before coal exits the electricity grid, and
were “simply unnecessary” given abundant renewable energy sources.
The report authored by Dr Hepworth found nuclear power would be the most
expensive form of energy for Australia, at 1.5 to three times the cost per
kilowatt hour of coal-fired electricity and four to eight times of solar.
Small modular reactors, still unproven on a commercial scale, would be even
more costly, the CSIRO has estimated.
The Smart Energy Council has calculated the federal opposition’s proposed fleet
of seven nuclear reactors at up to $600 billion, for a mere four per cent of
energy supply in the grid.
Nor can nuclear power be considered a clean source of energy because
radioactive waste management was “costly, complex, contested and unresolved” in
Australia and globally, Dr Hepworth said.
Even countries with existing nuclear capability are choosing renewables over
nuclear, including China, because of the speed of deployment, and because the
cost curve is low and continues to fall."
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
