australia should follow britain

BEN HYDE

November 10, 2009 03:00pm

AUSTRALIA should follow Britain by turning to nuclear power or face "economic suicide", a leading Adelaide academic says.

Earlier today, Britain's Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband announced that 10 new nuclear energy sites would be built across the United Kingdom by 2025.

The British Government said the nuclear expansion would address climate change and ensure there was always enough power in the country.

Professor Barry Brook, the Sir Hubert Wilkins professor of climate change at the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute, says Australia should follow suit.

In an opinion piece for AdelaideNow, Professor Brook says "nuclear power is the only proven electricity generation technology that can simultaneously meet reliable baseload demand, anywhere, and yet emit no carbon dioxide when operating."

"Worldwide, in 2008 nuclear power avoided 2.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, compared to what would have been emitted if coal-fired stations had instead been used," he says.


Go nuclear or risk economic suicide, says Professor Barry Brook

Cheers, Skip