SuttaCentral
Sure, but I don’t think getting the fissile material is the issue. We have plenty of uranium and can either produce it ourselves or get it from the US. The problem is getting the Australian public to accept it. Which is why it has to be taken slowly, step by step.
Obviously I’m just vibing here, but I dunno, it feels like something is in the wind.
I gather even replacing the reactor at Arrival Heights (South of Sydney), which is crucial for generating isotopes used in medical procedures in Australia and NZ and is also important for materials research (along with the synchrotron in Melbourne) was controversial.
Yeah, and that’s just a tiny research facility. It was also used by Mark Allon to carbon-date the Gandhari texts.
This would not be the first time nuclear power plants were proposed as a cover for nuclear weapons in Australia.
In 1968, ex-RAAF pilot Gorton became Prime Minister. The nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) was already in the works. However, a big supporter of a homegrown nuclear deterrent, Gorton wanted to Australia to be on the “brink of manufacture” of a weapon, says Prof Reynolds.
“If the whole world goes pear shaped, the NPT falls apart and rogue states start shooting weapons, he wanted to know if we [could build this bomb] quickly.”
Gorton gave the green light to Jervis Bay. Work began on the plant which was ostensibly for power generation.
Then, in 1971, Gorton was rolled and the Australian atomic dream died, explained Richard Broinowski of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, in a 2006 paper. His replacement, Billy McMahon did not support the plans and construction ceased on the plant.
“As Treasurer, [McMahon] had been persuaded by officials that the ‘cover’ devised for the Jervis Bay reactor lacked credibility, since electricity generated there would be double the cost of electricity generated from Australian coal,” Mr Broinowski says.
As in, “When the wind blows”?
For some reason we got bombarded (no pun intended) with post apocalyptic novels when I was in late primary school - 1988, 1989. I really did enjoy Louise Lawrence’s “Children of the dust” and read it again a few years ago. The other one I remember was Victor Kelleher’s “Taronga”.
Perhaps we should just stop worrying and learn to love the bomb?
Ha ha yes, the choices do feel rather … stark.
And it may be the only man-made energy source that has strict waste management requirements enforced.
Some of the prominent renewable energy sources are becoming a severe environmental issue in this regard.
This commentary may be of interest:
For decades, we’ve idolized the college dropout founder. The genius who leaves a top university, armed only with vision and a laptop, to disrupt an industry and become a billionaire. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg—these are names that have shaped the modern definition of disruptive innovation. But in climatetech, where the problems are physical and the solutions to reversing climate change demand serious scientific rigor, a new kind of founder is emerging: the PhD founder.
…
Software won’t stop wildfires. An app can’t pull carbon from the air. To decarbonize steel, reinvent cement, or scale direct air capture, we need real-world hardware solutions. That’s why so many climatetech startups are being founded by scientists and engineers—because the solutions require fundamental breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, and engineering. And the urgency of the climate crisis has turned the lab into the new startup launchpad.
Renewables make up over 50% of American electricity:
Aussies support India & Nepal:
There’s quite a lot of good news for the climate here in Australia. In particular, we’ll be doing with batteries what we’ve done with solar.
China committed to reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030, and it seems to have done so ahead of schedule:
Whereas the previous (temporary) downturns were economic (/pandemic), the latest seems to be due to structural shifts towards low-carbon technologies.
Personally i think this is a very important news discovery.
A new source of energy, clean energy, displacement of oil generation
Abundant and sustainable.
meltdown resistance,
abundant supply
Reduced Nuclear Waste and Proliferation Risk.
Energy Independence.
No Green house emission.
This discovery will be a game changer in solving climate changes, towards green sustainable energy.
the world really really need this to stop their addiction on coal and oil.
Rabbits sometimes make mistakes or grow lazy. That’s when the tortoise seizes its chance."
will this be consider as good news for climate ?
i can imagines alarm bell ringing at OPEC HQ. 
Indeed. We Americans invented the thorium reactor at Oak Ridge back in the 1960s!! And then we just decided, “meh, uranium is probably safe enough” 
Though, Trump has signed a new EO to reduce some of the red tape that’s been blocking nuclear investments in America, so hopefully we’ll see some movement there soon too.
Okay, so I am negatively polarized towards believing anything in a YT video that says it is going to change the world.
More soberly, Thorium reactors have been known for ages; I remember from the 80s they were going to change everything.
The Chinese reactor TMSR-LF1 is projected to produce power for only 60 days per year over a ten year lifetime. Meanwhile, every day China is producing staggering quantities of solar power.
Long term, my cancellable opinion is that the real application for thorium reactors is in shipping. Interesting to see China is starting to develop nuclear powered cargo ships.
(Oh, and I know this thread is for good news, but more and cheaper power will create more problems than it solves. 
)
Sorry, I’ve been neglecting this topic for a while.
Yeah, we’re starting to see the impact of reducing energy costs.
My prediction is that over the next few years, but especially in 5-10 years, we’ll start to see more and more analysis of the harms created through the consumption of energy, eg. increased disposability, waste, etc. This will create second-order effects that will mitigate a large chunk of the benefits of renewables.
If you don’t mind YT, this is a great explainer video:
If my brother-in-law starts sharing videos covering the relative merits of synchronous condensers and grid-forming inverters, I think we must be making progress.
After a long day of learning git (thanks @agilgur5 !) and working on a pull request, this was immensely enjoyable and full of good news:
