I made the below post because I was sick of all the attacks on the messengers by MacDoc without dealing with the issue or answering a single question posed by those who question or challenge the nuclear paradigm. YEs I am sick of all the put downs, the brow beating, the insults, and the avoidacnce of each and every question and challenge posed. That has been the epitomy of the nuclear industry's method over the last more than 70 years - killing us softly and nice kind words out front, plus unfulfilled promoses to make us complacent and greedy, as well as to stand in awe of our betters who have tamed the universe.

Alright. I'm not too proud to admit the necessity to change my mind on nuclear for several reasons.

1. Fissile material already exists so not having nuclear will not stop weapons grade materials becoming available. On the other hand it has to be recognised that civilian nuclear power will create skills and opportunities for more countries or actors to generate weapons grade materials and possibly nuclear bombs so;
2. IAEA needs to be strengthened in safeguards. Multiplied in fact.
3. Many climate change deniers are still prepared to go with nuclear power so it gets past the denialists objections. However nuclear power should only be used in order to shut down the worst coal fired power stations. Otherwise there is no net reduction in emissions.
4. All efforts should be made towards implementing fast breeder reactors so that devastating, poisonous uranium mining can be discontinued and old waste and weapons material used instead.
5. This should not, must not interfere with efficiency goals, and electricity use reduction by way of price signals.

Other baseload options should be pursued with all haste, such as solar thermal in desert areas such as the vast deserts of Australia where sun reliability is close to 100% and thermal capacity can deliver 24/7 baseload.

Still further options such as geothermal from radiogenic intrusions should be pursued with all haste and money.

Biography/ Background

Director of Climate Science, Environment Institute
Climate and Energy blog/website: BraveNewClimate
Professor Barry Brook holds the Foundation Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change at the University of Adelaide. He has published two books and over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers (Nature, Science, PNAS, etc.), and regularly writes opinion pieces and popular articles for the media. He has received a number of distinguished awards in recognition of his research excellence, which addresses the topics of climate change, computational and statistical modelling, sustainable energy, and the synergies between human impacts on Earth systems.