Australia going nuclear?, page-10

For those with a general interest in the debate on whether Australia should embrace nuclear energy, Nick Cater’s article in today’s Australian (page 11) is an excellent read. Briefly, it relates how the Greens party (yes!) in Finland adopted a pro-nuclear policy some two years ago, and has held to that policy despite caustic criticism from other national Green parties — including, of course, the Australian Greens. As Cater points out, it’s hard to resist adopting a rational energy policy when your next door neighbour is a well-known thug and bully — Putin’s Russia.

To quote Cater: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put an end to the dwindling constituency of anti-nuclear voters (in Finland). In a recent poll conducted by Varian, 61 per cent of Finns supported nuclear and only 9 per cent were opposed. …….Before the invasion (of Ukraine), Finland imported roughly a third of its electricity from Russia. Today, thanks in no small part to the addition of 16GW of capacity from the Olkilouto 3 (nuclear plant), Finland is virtually self-sufficient.”

Could we set up a fund, perhaps, to send Chris Bowen on a study tour of Finland — preferably in the Finnish mid-winter?