Right now, a Parliamentary Committee is preparing to rubber stamp an ANSTO plan for Australia to sign up to take part in developing new nuclear reactors – Generation IV reactors.

For a start, most Gen IV nuclear reactors require the input of plutonium or enriched uranium to operate. So Australia would have to import these before being able to operate the  new reactors. So already, with the transport of these highly radioactive materials, there’ s the risk of terrorism, of materials being stolen for weapons. The use of enriched uranium or plutonium in thorium fuel has proliferation implications.

This advanced involvement in the nuclear fuel chain makes it a logical and not too difficult step for the new reactors to provide the means for making nuclear bombs, including radiological weapons – “dirty bombs”. As well, the reactors themselves form an attractive target for terrorism, or enemy attack.

The nuclear lobby, and especially…