If Nuclear Power is a good investment for Bill Gates, why not Australia

In the Australian:

Today I received a message that Bill Gates is celebrating the completion of a 15-year project to design and start building “the most advanced nuclear facility in the world which will be much safer and produce far less waste than conventional reactors”.

It’s a “win for America’s energy independence, and the fight against climate change”. What Bill Gates does not mention is the other US nuclear projects taking place and projects in at least 13 other countries. This is an unprecedented boom driven by climate change. Australia is missing the action..
Yesterday I alerted readers to the global small reactor nuclear boom which has the potential to slash Australian power prices and avoid the looming electricity catastrophe. But I understated the boom and the fact while we will are set to rely on wind and solar, the non-Australian world now sees nuclear as an essential component to achieving carbon goals. Given there is very limited nuclear knowledge among Canberra’s energy policy makers and even less in the states, I urged energy minister Chris Bowen to personally go on a nuclear fact finding trip starting with the US and the founder of Microsoft Bill Gates.
In 24 hours I had an email to help prepare Bowen for any Gates visit. In the 14 countries there are a large number of nuclear projects being designed or constructed using different technologies.
Some are devoted to nuclear waste destruction. The global dispersion of the countries involved is truly staggering and includes the US, Canada, France, Japan, Russia, South Africa, the UK, Sweden, South Korea, Czechia, Poland, Denmark, Argentina, Indonesia and of course, arguably the biggest, China.
For Australia to cement its head firmly in the sand and ignore the global nuclear low cost emission strategies means our power prices will be higher than most other countries. In Australia it’s stunning that Energy Minister Chris Bowen would ask Peter Dutton to put forward nuclear power costs when the world has already answered that question with small reactors including the 350 megawatts Gates plant which is much larger than most.
Wind and solar have a key role, but when sited in remote areas serving capital cities they are not cheap because of the extras involved and the fact that the plants have a short lifespan. So with the caveat that what Gates is promoting is just a small part of the boom, it is fascinating to see the enthusiasm the founder of Microsoft generates by directing his talents to nuclear believing it as an essential component to achieving the world’s carbon reduction aims while avoiding Australia’s soaring power prices.
Over to you Bill: “Today (actually its a few months ago) I’m in the town of Kemmerer, Wyoming, to celebrate the latest step in a project that’s been more than 15 years in the making: designing and building a next-generation nuclear power plant. I’m thrilled to be here after all this time—because I’m convinced that the facility will be a win for the local economy, America’s energy independence, and the fight against climate change.