Energy option

CLIMATE change and pollution are killing millions of people worldwide. Poor quality and scarce water is contributing to the deaths of many others.

Coal is not the answer, but nor are wind and solar renewables which have their own sustainability-related challenges.

Thorium molten salt small modular reactors could desalinate water, remove pollution and CO2 from the atmosphere and produce new medical isotopes to save even more lives.

Australia has large deposits of thorium, a radioactive element which does not make bombs and is almost impossible to melt down.

Its use was politically overlooked 40 years ago in favor of plutonium/uranium based reactors that could make bombs.

Interest is being reinvigorated with currently over 30 countries in the process of developing small modular thorium molten salt reactors.

However, Australia’s brilliant nuclear scientists are prevented by our anti-nuclear laws from investigating this source of energy further.

We currently sell mineral sands that contain thorium overseas so that other countries, including China, can use them. We are again letting other countries take advantage of our abundant resources.

73% of Australians in a recent 2022 Compass Polling survey are now in support of nuclear submarine propulsion.

So let’s change our anti-nuclear laws and become a self-sufficient country with low cost, safe, base load energy from small modular reactors (SMRs) and develop Australian industries.

We can then sell value-added resources including SMR’s overseas to create domestic wealth and jobs rather than send raw products that other countries can capitalise on.

“Only Australia, a true laggard and outlier, holds nuclear energy as illegal.

“In this, Australia is not just eccentric, but nuts.” – Greg Sheridan, foreign editor, Weekend Australian, July 2021.

Liz Penfold, Aldgate