Climate solution 'must include nuclear power'

The Australian

October 16, 2006

ANY serious consideration of the problems presented by global warming must involve nuclear-powered electricity generation, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

Mr Howard berated Labor for not accepting that position when he was asked by opposition environment spokesman Anthony Albanese if there was any other country on the planet where renewable energy projects were being closed.

"It's the view of the government that there are many contributions to be made to solving the problem of global warming," Mr Howard told parliament.

"Renewable energy is part of the solution but another very important part of the solution is nuclear power."

Mr Howard said the government had always acknowledged that renewables were part of the response to global warming, but so were other energy sources.

"If you're really serious about tackling the problem of global warming, you've got to be serious about the potential contribution of all of the energy sources, including nuclear power,"he said.

Earlier Mr Howard said nuclear power was part of the solution to global warming.

"Those who say they are in favour of doing something about global warming but turn their faces against considering nuclear power are unreal," he said.

"It is part of the solution, I'm not saying it's the only solution.

"I just think that if we're serious about having a debate about global warming, particularly as the holder of some of the largest uranium reserves in the world, we have got to be willing to consider the nuclear option."

Mr Howard said part of the reason he commissioned the taskforce, headed by nuclear physicist and former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski, was because he felt strongly about the benefits of nuclear power.

"It is clean green," he said.

But he couldn't say when Australia may get nuclear power. "As to when, as I say, I'd like a bit more advice on that," Mr Howard said.

Labor has pledged there will be no nuclear power if it wins government, but it does plan to re-examine its policy of no new uranium mines at its national conference next year.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley wants the policy changed but faces a difficult job convincing some sections of Labor that it is the way to go.

Mr Keating thinks a change in the Labor policy would be a mistake. "I think I would stay with the existing policy," he said yesterday.

"This is not a good industry to encourage, and anyone that has an electricity program, ipso-facto ends up with a nuclear weapons capability."