iTWire - As world remembers Nagasaki, O'Brien floats idea of nuclear power
By chance or intention, Ted O'Brien, the spokesperson for climate change and energy in the federal Opposition, made the decision to pen an opinion piece advocating for the implementation of nuclear power in Australia on a day that coincides with the commemoration of Nagasaki's devastating annihilation. Nagasaki was the second Japanese city obliterated by an American nuclear weapon within a span of three days, following the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
The blog post centers around TerraPower, a company owned by Bill Gates, that is currently building a compact nuclear reactor in Wyoming. TerraPower aims to have the reactor ready for operation by the conclusion of this decade.
O'Brien conveniently omits several additional pertinent details regarding this small modular reactor referred to as a wandering wave reactor. Firstly, its development would have commenced significantly earlier had it not been for Donald Trump's erratic introduction of a trade conflict with China. [I label it as erratic, as the United States has taken a considerably greater toll from it than China.]
Gates had planned to commence the construction of a preliminary model in China, but circumstances forced him to alter his strategy as the agreement had been established between the two nations, granting them the authority to terminate the contract - exactly what Trump did, causing Gates' aspirations to crumble. It's worth noting that Gates possesses an immense wealth which he intends to employ for funding the advancement of this reactor.
The complete account of the TWR or Natrium reactor can be found in a captivating Netflix documentary called Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, which was unveiled in 2019. It is highly recommended to give it a watch.
O'Brien [on the right] is very passionate about the concept of nuclear energy. However, does Australia possess the same caliber of skilled individuals that Gates has gathered to operate TerraPower? It took the co-founder of Microsoft seven years to reach the stage where a prototype was ready to be built. Unfortunately, this coincided with the moment Trump targeted the nation he refers to as "Jina". In reality, Australia does not have any notable nuclear sector.
Gates opted for China as it offered convenience and affordability for the construction project. The country boasted abundant skilled individuals with prior experience in building nuclear reactors. Comparatively, the expenses involved in such a project would be considerably lower than in other nations with similar expertise. Moreover, Gates held enough sway to persuade Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, to pay a visit to Seattle, thereby bypassing the intricate Chinese administrative system.
Another point that O'Brien neglected to discuss is that the United States possesses approximately 700,000 metric tons of nuclear waste currently being stored within its borders, which serves as fuel for the TWR. Conversely, Australia does not possess any such reserves of waste.
As a result, in the United States, it would be beneficial to eliminate accumulated nuclear waste. However, in Australia, if any political party were to consider adopting nuclear power, the issue of waste storage would be the foremost concern. Subsequently, the "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) question would become prominent.
Wyoming plans to construct a power plant equipped with a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor and a molten salt energy storage system. This advanced storage technology will enable the system to generate 500 MW of power for over 5 and a half hours, sufficient to supply energy to approximately 400,000 households. The exact cost of each TWR is unknown at this point, but it is likely to amount to several tens of billions of US dollars.
If O'Brien had provided more information in his opinion piece instead of using it as an opportunity to criticize the government's green energy initiatives, perhaps his argument would have been more credible.
The way it is currently, his written work appears to be more focused on politics rather than being useful or applicable in real life. It's still unclear if he was aware of the importance of the specific day when he released it.
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