posted on another thread but worth the read. Article from: The Australian MINING giant Rio Tinto has urged Kevin Rudd to immediately begin work on a regulatory regime allowing use of nuclear energy in Australia, arguing the viability of energy alternatives has been dramatically overstated.
The company has advised the government to consider "every option" for power generation because its pledges on reducing carbon emissions and using renewable energy will expose industry and consumers to huge increases in their power bills.
And it says that overly optimistic assumptions on the viability of alternatives such as wind and geothermal power, as well as so-called clean coal technologies, have created a "false optimism" which the government must challenge by commissioning new research.
The arguments come in a Rio Tinto Australia submission to the government's review of energy policy obtained by The Australian last night.
It emerged just hours after Resources Minister Martin Ferguson emphatically rejected the need for nuclear power generation in Australia, insisting that the nation had ample resources of cheap coal and gas to meet its energy needs.
Mr Ferguson told The Australian he saw no reason for next week's federal Labor Party conference to review the party's prohibition on nuclear energy.
But the minister said through a spokesman that the government wanted to encourage increased Australian uranium exports and that he saw no contradiction between selling uranium overseas while refusing to use it at home to generate energy.
Rio Tinto owns 68 per cent of ERA, Australia's biggest uranium producer.
Its submission in response to a government white paper on energy, signed by managing director Stephen Creese, warns that Australia must be prepared to consider all energy sources if it is serious about meeting its carbon emissions reduction target of 60 per cent by 2050.
It calls on the government to immediately begin building the capacity to support and regulate a nuclear energy sector, allowing a decision by 2020 with a view to beginning energy generation by 2030.
Mr Creese writes that Rio Tinto is concerned about the combined effect of the government's proposed emissions trading scheme and its 20 per cent renewable energy target, noting that existing low-cost coal-fired power stations will have to be replaced earlier than previously thought.
"Overly conservative assumptions on the cost of alternative low-emissions base-load generation technologies have created a false optimism about Australia's ability to maintain competitive power prices," the submission says.
"This will significantly disadvantage Australia, given our heavy reliance on coal-fired generation for base load."
Rio notes that the Rudd government and industry are investing heavily in the development of clean-coal technologies through carbon capture and storage (CCS).
But it says this will require massive further investment and that carbon can only be stored underground where there are appropriate geological conditions.
"Some regions of Australia will not be located near good renewable energy resources or sufficient geological storage formations for CCS," the submission says.
"In these circumstances nuclear energy may provide the optimum clear, reliable and affordable energy option."
The submission argues that while gas has been widely touted as an alternative, gas prices fluctuate with oil prices, leading to volatility which would reduce the nation's industrial competitiveness and put jobs at risk.
And it says Rio's internal analysis, which the company is prepared to share with the government in confidence, indicates all energy alternatives are more expensive than is widely accepted, with debate resting on a "false paradigm" constantly reinforced by reference to studies based on flawed assumptions.
"Energy and climate policy built on these results is fundamentally flawed,' the submission says.
"Rio Tinto urges the government to undertake its own rigorous, comprehensive and independent analysis of the real cost and practicality of building a low-emissions energy system as a function of the emissions reduction target."
Earlier yesterday Mr Ferguson dismissed any need for an examination of Labor's prohibition of nuclear reactors at next week's national conference in Sydney.
"Australia is an energy-rich nation possessing abundant sources of low-cost conventional fuels such as coal and gas, as well as many renewable options, such as wind, solar, geothermal and wave energy," Mr Ferguson said through a spokesman.
"The minister acknowledges that nations with fewer energy options than Australia need to develop and expand their nuclear energy capacity as they respond to the challenges of climate change and energy security."
But he said he did not believe Australia needed nuclear energy and would not promote debate at the conference.
Also yesterday the Prime Minister refused to comment on overnight agreements under which the US will deepen its co-operation with India in the construction of nuclear reactors.
Australia refuses to sell uranium to India because it will not to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said last night Australia had no problem with US-India co-operation
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