According to ABC Online, New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has called for a debate on the benefits and risks of nuclear power as an alternative energy source.
“The world’s got to debate whether uranium-derived power is more dangerous than coal,” he said.
“Coal is looking very dangerous – there ought to be a debate.”
Mr Carr says a new energy source needs to be found because alternative power sources such as wind, solar and hydrogen are not yet viable options.
“You could have a wind farm across all of outback New South Wales,” he said. “It’d kill every kookaburra but it wouldn’t provide the base-load [power] we need.”
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.