Prime Minister John Howard said on Friday nuclear energy was an inevitable option for Australia after the release of a report which found that 25 nuclear reactors could significantly cut greenhouse gases.

Howard said the government would respond officially to the report s recommendations early in 2007, but added that the final decision on nuclear power would be made on a commercial basis. "Given our uranium reserves and given our energy needs are to double by 2050, we would be crazy in the extreme if we didn't allow for the development of nuclear power," Howard told reporters in Sydney.

The government-commissioned report said Australia, with about 40 percent of the world's uranium, could have 25 nuclear reactors producing about one-third of the nation's electricity by 2050. Nuclear power could reduce Australia s greenhouse gas emissions by between 8 to 17 percent, the 287-page report said.

Howard, a close ally of US President George W. Bush, has refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol on climate change, which aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Australia is one of the world's biggest exporters of coal, used widely in power generation, and Howard has strongly supported coal companies despite calls for more renewable energy.

Howard only recently conceded that global warming was a reality and his critics say he is now pushing nuclear energy in a bid to bolster his environmental credentials ahead of a national election due by the end of 2007. "The government is now scrambling to create a perception that it is doing something, knowing full well that nuclear power is too slow, too expensive and too dangerous to provide any answer to global warming," Greens Senator Christine Milne said in a statement.

Environmental group Greenpeace said Howard's nuclear push was "charging down an expensive, irresponsible pathway". "If the government is really serious about reducing Australia s greenhouse emissions, they should get out of coal, support energy efficiency and renewable energy...which could cut Australia s emissions by 30 percent by 2020," said Stephen Campbell, head of campaigns at Greenpeace Australia.

Carbon tax essential
Australia s demand for electricity was expected to more than double before 2050, said the nuclear report, and over two-thirds of existing power generation facilities would need to be upgraded or replaced and new capacity added.

The nuclear report put the cost of each nuclear plant at between A$2 billion (US$1.58 billion) to A$3 billion and said that the cost of nuclear power would be between 20 percent and 50 percent higher than coal- or gas-fired power at current prices. The report said nuclear power would only be competitive with coal-fired power if pollution and carbon emissions were taxed, while enrichment could add A$1.8 billion (US$1.4 billion) to the value of uranium exports.

Howard has consistently ruled out a carbon tax or carbon emissions trading, saying it would adversely affect the coal industry, which is a major employer. For Australia to embrace a nuclear power industry it would need bipartisan political support, which is currently lacking.

The centre-left Labor opposition opposes nuclear power and while Howard s conservative coalition is the national government, the country s six states are ruled by Labor. (US$1=A$1.27)
(Por Fayen Wong, Planet Ark, 02/01/2007)