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Federal Parliament’s House Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy has presented a report arising from its inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia today.
The report, ‘Not without your approval: a way forward for nuclear technology in Australia, follows a parliamentary inquiry that saw the Committee travel across Australia over recent months taking evidence and assessing over 300 submissions on the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia.
The report recommends the Australian Government undertake a body of work to deepen the understanding of nuclear technology which would include economic, technological and readiness assessments and also a two-way public engagement program.
It recommends a partial lift of the current moratorium on nuclear energy, and urges the Government to keep its moratorium on Generations I, II and III reactors while lifting it for reactors in Generations III+ and IV, so only the newest and best be considered.
Additionally, the report recommends that the partial-lift of the moratorium be subject to a technology assessment and a commitment to community consent as a condition of approval for any nuclear power or nuclear waste disposal facility.
Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien, who chairs the House Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy, believes that nuclear energy should be on the table for consideration as part of Australia’s future energy mix.
He said that Australia should say a definite ‘No’ to old nuclear technologies, but a conditional ‘Yes’ to new and emerging technologies such as small modular reactors.
“And most importantly,” said Mr O’Brien, “the Australian people should be at the centre of any approval process.”
He maintains that if Australia is serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, “we can’t simply ignore this zero-emissions baseload technology”.
“But we also need to be humble enough to learn lessons from other countries who have gone down this path,” he commented. “It’s as much about getting the technology right as it is about maintaining a social licence based on trust and transparency.”
The Committee was asked by the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction the Hon. Angus Taylor to undertake the inquiry and to report back to Government by the end of 2019.
The report is the product of the inquiry and was presented to Speaker of the House of Representatives the Hon. Tony Smith MP on Thursday 12 December, on behalf of the Australian Parliament, for the Government’s consideration.