Friends of the Earth Brisbane
Anti-Nuclear Collective
Member Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance (QNFA)
PO Box 5702 West End Qld 4101
Mobile: 0411 118 737


Media Release
June 6th, 2006

Energy Inquiry must look at sustainable options


As the Federal Government announces its appointments for members to its
prime ministerial task force on nuclear power, Friends of the Earth Brisbane
calls for a fair inquiry into all of Australia’s energy options, rather than
a narrowly focused exploration of nuclear power.

Friends of the Earth Brisbane believes that, to have any value, an inquiry
into nuclear power must be managed by independent experts, not Howard’s
political allies or Government-funded scientists, and must be public, to
democratically include the community in the process.

Furthermore, any inquiry into nuclear power should realistically assess the
hidden costs of nuclear power – storage of high level radioactive waste for
thousands of years, social and health impacts of the industry, extremely high
water use of mining uranium and other environmental impacts of the nuclear
chain, political and security risks of nuclear expansion in our region, and
the cost and timeframes involved in developing an infrastructure capable of
managing nuclear power plants through their use and decommissioning phases.


Spokesperson for FoE Brisbane’s Anti-nuclear collective, Robin Taubenfeld
says, “If the Howard government is genuine about its concern over climate
change, it would not be considering nuclear power, which has a long start
up time and known extreme environmental risks.

“Global warming needs an immediate response. To achieve the minimum sixty
percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions required by 2050, Australia
needs to be exploring the options already in existence in Australia:
including energy efficiency, geothermal, biomass, wind and solar. If the
Government is sincere in its desire to address greenhouse issues, it needs to
be looking at these sustainable, renewable energy options, which so far it
has not widely supported.


We don’t need tax-payer funded inquiry into nuclear power, coordinated by a
pro-nuclear scientist to know where the Government stands on nuclear issues.


The Federal Government is currently building a new nuclear reactor outside
Sydney, is in the midst of attempting to impose a radioactive waste dump on
the Northern Territory and is pushing for expansion of the uranium mining
industry Australia-wide.

If the Government is keen on really debating the nuclear issue, they should
cease their involvement in the nuclear industry until they have held a
comprehensive, independent inquiry in to all of its impacts.”

For more information/media:
Friends of the Earth Brisbane Anti-Nuclear Collective, Robin Taubenfeld 0411
118 737