A nuclear phantom has descended on our ‘sunburnt country’ and the recent parliamentary inquiry into the Coalition’s proposal for a nuclear reactor at Mt Piper has stirred up local sentiments.

The Lithgow Environment Group is against the development of nuclear power for Australia. It is the most expensive form of power generation, it will take too long to develop to address climate change and most importantly, it is dangerous, leaving behind radioactive nuclear waste for uncounted future generations.

Our Environment Group acknowledges the scientific credibility of the independent CSIRO and AEMO and agrees with their conclusion that renewable energy, not nuclear, is the way for future power generation. We believe Frontier Economics should be worried about the embarrassing costings they have provided for nuclear power at the Coalition’s request. We argue these are biased towards the Coalition’s nuclear policy.

A nuclear reactor is the most expensive option for power generation, roughly twice as expensive as renewables. Even if the cost of one nuclear reactor would be as cheap as $10 billion, this is equivalent to an annual salary of $200,000 for each of the 250 employees at Mt Piper for 100 years. Private investors are avoiding nuclear and investing in cheaper renewable energy, so only your money, taxpayer money will be used for nuclear development. Ironically, we are promised cheaper electricity bills by using the most expensive technology. This doesn’t make sense.

We don’t have time for a nuclear option. Our planet is already cooking. We have already started transitioning to renewable energy. Today it supplies 35% of Australia’s energy needs. Operators of coal fired power stations are desperate to close down their uneconomic plants and governments are now paying for upgrades. For example, NSW taxpayers will pay $450 million to Origin Energy to prop up its unviable coal fired Eraring Power Station. If nuclear were to go ahead, once again taxpayers will have to keep the aging coal plants running.

People have reason to be afraid about the prospect of a nuclear reactor within our LGA. They know about the drastic consequences of nuclear accidents; the most recent, Fukushima. Closer to home there have been two incidents at Lucas Heights, reported by a whistle blower rather than through the existing regulations. The Coalition’s policy of “getting rid of green tape”, would remove even these insufficient regulations. Most of all, it is immoral to impose 20,000 years of radioactive waste management on our population and future generations when there is no safe solution.

We see this nuclear fantasy as a well-funded campaign to prevent the roll out of renewables in the name of continued business for the fossil fuel industry. Australia does not need a nuclear reactor, nor does the community of Lithgow.