Pat "Fat Conductor" Conlon, one of the troika that run South Australia wants to sell uranium to the Chinese as a means to combat global warming, through reducing the Chinese dependence on coal powered plants and increasing their dependence on nuclear power (powered by Aussie uranium). South Australia has no coal and China only imports a little coal, but it does have uranium.
More likely it is a means to underpin the South Australian tax base, through securing markets for the major mining developments in the north of the state, which have an element of uranium in the make up of the material to be excavated. He is at odds with most of his left faction buddies, who are a bit suspicious and doubtful of the value of a nuclear strategy either for internal use or for export. This is an important issue in the run up to the Labor Party conference coming up soon, because the Labor Party policy is for no new uranium mines and presumably no export of uranium. Many others across the political spectrum are not so gung ho on this strategy, while others are holding their cards close to their chest. The Premier has drawn a line in the sand on nuclear power in South Australia. He will be long gone before a decision is made to build one.
One of the favoured sites for the development of a nuclear power station is reportedly Port Augusta, just up the road, with access to water, the electric grid, road and rail networks and near the new mining developments (and very far away from large centres of population). Wouldn't want one of those guys nearby. When I was in Port Augusta last week I asked people about it and they were pretty relaxed. They have a very visible power station there and people felt that it would bring many economic benefits to the area. All this is down the road, but some of Australias richest men have set up a nuclear power company to evaluate options, no doubt with the tacit backing of the government, who have just completed a study which concluded that nuclear power was a viable option for Australia.
Me, I don't really understand it all and am very unsure about what the right way forward is.
2 comments:
How much "Australian Coal" is China taking, I think you will find it is not a great deal at present.Japan is by far the largest user of Australian Coal. Chinas domestic consumption is set to pass production this year.
Thanks for that. Completely wrong and I have corrected it. I included a link in the other post. The Australian Coal Association has all the information that you could possibly need or want.
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