Sada-e-Watan Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Open
Forum on Nuclear Energy option for Australia held in Canberra
(Exclusive Report to Sada-e-Watan Sydney)
In delivering his
talk at an open forum on the topic of nuclear energy for Australia, Hon. Bob
McMullan, Federal Member from Canberra, indicated that electricity cost will
rise if nuclear power option is to be made viable. He said, "the cost (of
electricity) for average families would be a problem”.
He was referring to Dr Ziggy Switkowski’s report in which it has been
established that the minimum increase in electricity prices to make nuclear
power viable was a 20 per cent to 50 per cent increase. He further said, “In
fact, I believe it would be even more”. Mr. McMullan was one of the speakers at
the Forum Australia's nuclear forum in Canberra last week. Other speakers at the
forum included Senator Gary Humphries, ACT Greens MLA Dr Deb Foskey, Canberra
Times Science Editor, Mr. Simon Grose and ANU Nuclear Physicist, Professor Dr
Aidan Byrne.
Dr Deb Foskey opposed the idea of adoption of nuclear energy. She said, “I
believe that the contemporary debate about nuclear power in Australia is a
political ploy to provide a pretext for the expansion of uranium mining and
export, the development of a nuclear enrichment industry and the establishment
of nuclear waste dumps for high level waste from many countries, most
particularly the United States”.
Forum Australia, a Canberra based non-profit organisation, was established in
2005 to promote peace and harmony in Australia. The forum believes in freedom of
speech and organises open forums on issues that have a potential to affect
Australia and its citizens, with a view to promoting peace and harmony. This
year in February the forum had organised a debate on “Unity in diversity”, which
was participated by educationists, politicians and leaders of various religions
and beliefs.
Earlier opening the debate, Mr. Mohammed Ali, President Forum Australia,
stressed that the issues like the present one must be debated at length. He
further said that the issue was not a simple one and must be thought clearly
through, without being emotional. He believed that recommendations of “today’s
debate” will be passed onto relevant committees in the parliament by Senator
Gary Humphries and Mr. Bob McMullan.
Mr. Simon Grose highlighted the benefits of use of nuclear energy as an
alternate source of power for Australia. He quipped that a one day cricket match
between Pakistan and Australia in Sydney in 2020 may not go to the end, without
having an alternate source of power being available.
Prof Aidan provided an academic overview of nuclear reactors and spoke in favour
of considering the nuclear energy option.
Senator Gary Humphries was of the view that the option should be weighed on its
merit. He said that in the face of an increasing demand of energy, we should
consider for alternate sources.
The speakers did not share the concern by the audience that Canberra region was
at a risk of being used as a site of nuclear reactor in future.
Ms Leonie Ruth Acland, Director, Canberra University Harmony Program, was
moderator of the debate.
Throughout the debate, Mr. Javed Butt, Secretary, Forum Australia, kept busy
arresting the debate onto his movie camera. He later confided that “the forum
was a real success in that the receptive audience at the end of the speeches put
many questions to the speakers, which was an indication of their concerns.
Dr Zakir Rehmani, Vice President of the Forum, thanked all speakers and audience
for a very fruitful and constructive debate. He assured the audience that the
Forum will keep on arranging similar debates in future. He expressed his sincere
thanks to Sada-e-Watan Sydney, Canberra Times and Win Television for their
coverage.
