Post Fukushima disaster, Oz nuke industry calls for renewed debate on nuke energy
April 21st, 2011 - 12:49 pm ICT by ANIMelbourne, Apr. 21 (ANI): The Australian nuclear industry is calling for a renewed public debate about the use of atomic energy in the country.
Leading nuclear companies told a forum at the Lowy Institute that the partial meltdown of three Japanese reactors last month had eroded public support for nuclear energy. There was no clear way to reverse this in the short term, they conceded.
“The events of Fukushima were a huge wake-up call for people in my generation, born in the ’80s,” the regional director of the French nuclear company AREVA, Selena Ng, said.
The BBC further quoted Dr. Ng, as saying: “It’s also a huge wake-up call on how the nuclear industry has to improve its communication with its stakeholders.”
He said the industry, globally, has not always been transparent about these risks.
The Australian Uranium Association, an industry lobby group, said demand for uranium, and the amount of energy being produced by fission worldwide, would begin to expand.
“Public perceptions will return to what they were before Fukushima. The nuclear fuel cycle remains as safe after the Fukushima accident as it was before,” said the association’s chief executive, Michael Angwin.
Meanwhile, authorities in Fukushima continue to drain hundreds of tonnes of radioactive water from the partially melted No. 2 reactor.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, who operates the reactors, said it would start paying compensation to some of the 80,000 people evacuated from the district around the nuclear plant because of radiation fears.
The Japanese government has set aside public funds to help the company meet the payments, a move that would effectively nationalise the nation’s main electricity generator. (ANI)
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Tags: areva, atomic energy, australian uranium, electricity generator, fission, fukushima, japanese government, lobby group, lowy institute, nuclear company, nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear industry, nuclear plant, nuke industry, partial meltdown, public debate, public perceptions, radioactive water, regional director, tokyo electric power company