Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear power would generate tonnes of weapons fuel
Stephanie Peatling
November 25, 2006
IF AUSTRALIA pursued a nuclear power industry it could create enough spent fuel for up to 45,000 nuclear weapons, scientists say.
The EnergyScience Coalition scientists reviewed the report produced by a Federal Government taskforce, which found Australia could build 25 nuclear power stations by 2050 to generate one-third of the country's energy.
They criticised the report, saying it did not adequately deal with the issues of proliferation and nuclear waste. If the reactors produced 25 gigawatts of power and were used for 60 years, the scientists estimated, between 37,000 and 45,000 tonnes of spent fuel would be produced.
"That amount of spent fuel contains 370 to 450 tonnes of plutonium … which is enough to build 37,000 to 45,000 nuclear weapons," they found. That report section was written by Dr Jim Green, with the environmental group Friends of the Earth.
The Federal Government taskforce, chaired by the former Telstra boss and nuclear physicist Dr Ziggy Switkowski, said there would be no need for a nuclear waste plan until 2050.
The group includes Jim Falk, the director of the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society at Melbourne University, the retired diplomat Professor Richard Broinowski, academics from the University of NSW and Monash University and members of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.
Professor Broinowski wrote that Australian nuclear materials were "increasingly likely to end up in weapons".
Professor Broinowski said the report relied too heavily on Australia's bilateral relationships and the effectiveness of the world's non-proliferation regime.
To read the original article from the Sydney Morning Herald, click on:
SMH
Stephanie Peatling
November 25, 2006
IF AUSTRALIA pursued a nuclear power industry it could create enough spent fuel for up to 45,000 nuclear weapons, scientists say.
The EnergyScience Coalition scientists reviewed the report produced by a Federal Government taskforce, which found Australia could build 25 nuclear power stations by 2050 to generate one-third of the country's energy.
They criticised the report, saying it did not adequately deal with the issues of proliferation and nuclear waste. If the reactors produced 25 gigawatts of power and were used for 60 years, the scientists estimated, between 37,000 and 45,000 tonnes of spent fuel would be produced.
"That amount of spent fuel contains 370 to 450 tonnes of plutonium … which is enough to build 37,000 to 45,000 nuclear weapons," they found. That report section was written by Dr Jim Green, with the environmental group Friends of the Earth.
The Federal Government taskforce, chaired by the former Telstra boss and nuclear physicist Dr Ziggy Switkowski, said there would be no need for a nuclear waste plan until 2050.
The group includes Jim Falk, the director of the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society at Melbourne University, the retired diplomat Professor Richard Broinowski, academics from the University of NSW and Monash University and members of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.
Professor Broinowski wrote that Australian nuclear materials were "increasingly likely to end up in weapons".
Professor Broinowski said the report relied too heavily on Australia's bilateral relationships and the effectiveness of the world's non-proliferation regime.
To read the original article from the Sydney Morning Herald, click on:
SMH
posted by Pax Christi @ Saturday, November 25, 2006
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