Northern Territory Senator Dr Sam McMahon says she is "delighted" her push for nuclear has been backed, after the Nationals announced new amendments to a bill in favour of nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage.
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Nationals Senators, led by Matt Canavan and Bridget McKenzie have announced a raft of amendments to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) bill to invest in nuclear power.
Senator McMahon says the drafted legislation supports her long-established calls to unlock nuclear energy.
"When it comes to emissions, reliability and power output nuclear energy is way ahead of the pack and should be considered as part of the energy mix," Senator McMahon said.
"If we are to secure our power supply into the future and achieve zero net emissions, we need to consider nuclear power a reliable base load power with zero emissions."
The Northern Territory, with our abundance of Uranium and potential nuclear fuel Thorium, should be the Saudi Arabia of nuclear energy.
- Senator for the Northern Territory Dr Sam McMahon
The National's proposed amendments would allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in coal fired power stations, nuclear technology or nuclear power.
But political activist group Get Up's national director Paul Oosting says that as Australia forges ahead with solutions to the climate crisis, such as solar technology, the push for nuclear could delay climate action.
"Nuclear power is dangerous, unnecessary and colossally expensive. It would take more than a decade to build a nuclear reactor in Australia and cost billions. It's the ultimate climate action delay tactic," Mr Oosting said.
"Australia has an opportunity to position itself as a world leader in renewables. It's critical this pivotal moment in our history not be squandered on obsolete and failing technologies that will lock in irreparable climate damage."
Mr Oosting said he was concerned the clean energy corporation could become a "slush fund" for the coal, gas, and nuclear industry, and cautioned politicians from backing the bill.
"When Taylor's Bill comes before Parliament, politicians who accept the seriousness of the climate crisis we face - of all parties and none - must act to ensure coal, gas, and nuclear are excluded from any definition of 'low emissions technology', the return-on-investment requirement is kept, and the independence of the CEFC board is maintained," he said.
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Senator McMahon said nuclear should not be dismissed if Australia is "serious about achieving net zero by 2050, without decimating our economy, particularly in rural and regional Australia".
"Labor and the Greens need to get over their ideological bent that nuclear power is evil and do the right thing for Australia," Senator McMahon said.
"My National Party Senate colleagues and I will not take a backwards step in ensuring our communities are ready for future energy challenges and opportunities."
