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The NSW deputy prime minister and the national chairman said he hoped to put a law lifting a ban on uranium mining again in the country’s parliament. One Nation MP Mark Latham introduced law in 2019 to lift the ban on uranium mining in NSW, a position long endorsed by John Barilaro. A subsequent parliamentary investigation into the law recommended that the NSW government lift government bans on uranium mining and nuclear facilities, but was criticized by Greens and environmental groups. The coalition government ultimately declined to endorse Mr Latham’s bill last year, considering introducing its own law to lift the uranium mining ban, but declined to proceed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While the ban on uranium mining is a NSW government’s responsibility, only the federal government can lift a ban on nuclear power generation. Australia’s only nuclear reactor – in Lucas Heights, 40 km south of Sydney – is used exclusively for the production of nuclear medicine. Mr Barilaro said Friday he hoped to reinstate laws lifting the state ban on uranium mining soon, arguing that Australia should consider building small modular nuclear reactors. He said this could help Australia decarbonise its economy. “Every time you talk about nuclear weapons, someone is going to throw Chernobyl or Fukushima or Three Mile Island at them,” Barilaro told 2GB radio. “There have been problems in the past, but it’s not where the landscape unfolds.” Uranium mining has been banned in NSW since 1987 and Labor, the Greens and environmental groups do not support lifting the ban. They argue that nuclear power options are dangerous, overly expensive, and uranium mining will cause permanent environmental damage. About a third of the world’s uranium reserves are in Australia. Mr Barilaro’s statement comes days after a white paper on productivity from NSW endorsed the lifting of the ban on electricity generation from small nuclear reactors. Treasurer Dominic Perrottet admitted when the White Paper was released that some of his proposals would be controversial and unlikely to become public policy. National MPs at the federal level, including Barnaby Joyce, have previously supported the construction of small modular reactors in Australia, saying they could replace decommissioned coal-fired power plants. In a survey carried out by the market research platform Glow in mid-2020, more Australians supported the use of nuclear power to combat climate change than against it. That survey found that almost two in five people were in favor of nuclear power, with 31 percent against the technology and the same proportion of people unsafe. Australian Associated Press
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The NSW deputy prime minister and the national chairman said he hoped to put a law lifting a ban on uranium mining again in the country’s parliament.
One Nation MP Mark Latham introduced law in 2019 to lift the ban on uranium mining in NSW, a position long endorsed by John Barilaro.
A subsequent parliamentary investigation into the law recommended that the NSW government lift government bans on uranium mining and nuclear facilities, but was criticized by the Greens and environmental groups.
The coalition government ultimately declined to endorse Mr Latham’s bill last year, considering introducing its own law to lift the uranium mining ban, but declined to proceed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the ban on uranium mining is a matter for the NSW government, only the federal government can lift a ban on nuclear power generation.
Australia’s only nuclear reactor – in Lucas Heights, 40 km south of Sydney – is used exclusively for the production of nuclear medicine.
Mr Barilaro said Friday he hoped to reinstate laws lifting the state ban on uranium mining soon, arguing that Australia should consider building small modular nuclear reactors.
He said this could help Australia decarbonise its economy.
“Every time you talk about nuclear weapons, someone is going to throw Chernobyl or Fukushima or Three Mile Island at them,” Barilaro told 2GB radio.
“There have been problems in the past, but it’s not where the landscape unfolds.”
Uranium mining has been banned in NSW since 1987 and Labor, the Greens and environmental groups do not support lifting the ban.
They argue that nuclear power options are dangerous, overly expensive, and uranium mining will cause permanent environmental damage.
About a third of the world’s uranium reserves are in Australia.
Mr Barilaro’s statement comes days after a white paper on productivity from NSW endorsed the lifting of the ban on electricity generation from small nuclear reactors.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet admitted when the White Paper was released that some of his proposals would be controversial and unlikely to become public policy.
National MPs at the federal level, including Barnaby Joyce, have previously supported the construction of small modular reactors in Australia, saying they could replace decommissioned coal-fired power plants.
In a survey carried out by the market research platform Glow in mid-2020, more Australians supported the use of nuclear power to combat climate change than against it.
That survey found that almost two in five people were in favor of nuclear power, with 31 percent opposed to the technology and the same proportion of people unsafe.
Australian Associated Press
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