Nuclear power must be seriously considered as an option globally to reduce carbon emissions, says Rio Tinto chairman (right) Jan du Plessis. "We believe that if the world is very serious about reducing carbon emissions, we're going to have to look more seriously, more extensively at nuclear energy," he told reporters following the company's annual meeting.

While du Plessis acknowledged that the prospect of nuclear energy is a sensitive issue since the disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, he said, "with a view to the long-term, our firm view is that for the sake of energy security to begin with, the world is going to have to include ... a certain contribution by nuclear energy, I have no doubt about it."

Rio Tinto operates the enormous Ranger uranium deposit in Australia's Kakadu National Park, through its subsidiary Energy Resources of Australia,  which supplyies about 10% of the world's uranium market.

Australian Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, also expressed his support for nuclear power, but said nuclear power wasn't necessary for Australia because of its abundant supplies of low-cost and reliable alternative energy sources.

The global need for uranium however will continue, Ferguson said, given the dual drivers of an increasing demand for energy and the desire to decrease emissions, "particularly in countries that do not enjoy the same abundance of renewable energy sources as Australia."

The country's uranium industry would continue to expand, Ferguson said, adding that his immediate priority was "ensuring this happens in the proper way."

Uranium processing at the Ranger facility has been suspended until July to prevent environmental damage resulting from the risk of a tailings dam overflowing into the Kakadu National Park. The mine with more than 150 leaks, spills and other incidents since its 1981 opening,  is strongly opposed by Kakadu's Aboriginal community, its traditional owners.

Last year world heritage-listed National Park was gifted thousands of hectares of ecologically sensitive land containing uranium. The traditional owner, Jeffrey Lee, offered the land to government so it can become part of Kakadu, where he works as a ranger.

Lee, of the Djok clan, senior custodian of the land known as Koongarra is quoted saying “I’m not interested in money. I’ve got a job. I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That’s all that matters to me,” he told the Herald in a rare interview in 2007 reports Nuclear News.

Asia reassess nuclear
China, with the most ambitious nuclear new build programme in the world, has not been untouched by public sentiment over nuclear reactor safety in the wake of the Fukushima breakdown reports Nuclear Energy Insider.

China cuts its 2020 target for nuclear power of 80GW now to an emphasis on solar. NDRC vice chair Xie Zhenhua told Chinese media that Beijing has stopped approving new reactors and Fukushima has encouraged a more ‘healthy development’ of the Chinese nuclear industry.

Taiwan. In Taipei officials  called for establishing a cross-strait nuclear safety reporting mechanism to facilitate disaster preparedness and response. Taiwan Power (Taipower) proposed ‘twinning’ Taiwan’s No. 3 nuclear power plant with China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (GNPG) to increase safety. Later this year a delegation will discuss feasible cooperative projects to improve nuclear safety on both sides of the Straits.

South Korea. In early April the 33-year-old No.1 Gori plant was suspended for six days following an “electrical glitch. Korea will continue nuclear expansion plans,  despite mounting pressure from environment groups.

India: New Delhi immediately ordered new reactor safety checks. Four task forces to study Tarapur Plant (TAP) I and II, Rajasthan Plant (RAP) I and II and the Madras Plant (MAP) I and II. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh  however is convinced that nuclear energy would remain an “essential option” for India.

Malaysia has put its nuclear ambitions on hold. Chairman of Malaysia’s Energy Commission, Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, told parliament, ‘…for the time being, we can perhaps buy time and not rush into nuclear.’

Thailand. Thai Ministry of Energy suspended plans for five power plants and announces new higher targets for solar and wind power. The country has a single small reactor in Bangkok. Thailand delays its first nuclear power plant project by three years to 2023.

Indonesia: Jakarta will continue to pursue its nuclear programme to triple electricity output by 2025, with planned construction of two plants and four nuclear reactors (18GW total) by 2022.

Vietnam. Hanoi  pledged to continue its start-up nuclear programme but the projects could delay. Its first two facilities will be built by Russian consortia, and global competition is  for contracts on its next two scheduled plants.

"Reviewing nuclear technology and its future"
Behnam Taebi from the Delft University of Technology considers "The morally desirable option for nuclear power production" with a focus on the entire fuel cycle in Philosophy and Technology

He argues that "the desirable option should be primarily formulated in terms of the duties that present generation have towards posterity (1) not to jeopardize future generations vital interests, something alternatively known as the 'no harm' duty and (2) sustain future well-being insofar as that can be achieved with the natural resources available.

He discusses the two existing fuel cycles, Open and Closed Fuel Cycles and then consider Partitioning and Transmutation and the Breeder fuel cycle.


Pointing out that different fuel cycles are capable of complying with temporal duties in different ways, he emphasises that the Table (below) merely signifies relative comparisons.

"Before assessing the desirability of the technologies from the point of view of safeguarding the interests of future generation, we should also remind ourselves how they shift the burdens and benefits for contemporaries.

"Before we can assess the desirable energy mix, we must first find a unified way to, perhaps qualitatively, compare and balance the intrinsically different burdens and benefits that emanate from nuclear power production and other energy systems, both in spatial and temporal dimensions."

It's a refreshing, even soothing approach to such an emotive subject.