Nuclear debate heats up

South Australian Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis wants to bring the uranium debate back into Australia as he believes it's an important industry for Australia's future.

 "The fuel cycle needs to be looked at and I just think we need to have a discussion about it," Mr Koutsantonis told Neos Kosmos. "I think for future generations and as technologies change and nuclear reactors become safer and safer and there are better ways to store by-products, people will look at nuclear enrichment in Australia as an important industry."

The debate on nuclear enrichment has come under attack by the Labor party as it's against their policy but Koutsantonis points out that he agrees with South Australian Premier Mike Rann "that now is not the right time for uranium enrichment, let's just think about it." "The ALP's policy is that we will not engage in any development of the fuel cycle other than mining, it's a very emotive argument processing uranium; a lot of people have very strong held beliefs about it. I am not saying we do this tomorrow ... what I am saying is, as a community, as a country, we need to start thinking about whether or not we are going to value add in the chain of processing uranium. "The answer might be no we don't want to but I think a mature country, a confident outward looking country, can have this debate."

But Greens MP Adam Bandt said "the debate on nuclear power in this country is now over." "The recent terrible events in Japan and the ongoing emergency at the Fukushima nuclear power plant have shown very clearly the dangers of nuclear energy and why we should not go down this path in our country." Mr Bandt said that "we should end Australia's involvement in this dangerous cycle of mining, radiation, weapons and waste."

Mr Koutsantonis said the discussion to process uranium in Australia would be used for "peaceful purposes, not for nuclear weapons but for nuclear reactors," and would create more jobs in Australia. He said that although he has "a lot of sympathy for what is going on in Japan, and how we should be respectful in this debate" that we need to remember that the nuclear reactors there held up "pretty well" considering they were situated near one of the world's worst earthquake and tsunami.

"I think it's time to stand up for an industry that Australia will be so reliant on in the future. "Olympic Dam will be the largest uranium mine in the world so we will become the worlds supplier of uranium and there will be carbon taxes all around the world, they will be looking to nuclear energy to off-set carbon emissions They will be looking to Australia for our uranium, all I am saying is that the logical next step is to look at an industry that develops that."