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Pretty sure most solar panels are also sourced from countries that are not aligned with western values, while Australia is one of the largest producers of Urani

by skrbjc 3y ago

Pretty sure most solar panels are also sourced from countries that are not aligned with western values, while Australia is one of the largest producers of Uranium ore and nuclear powerplants are built locally.

jbarham 3y ago
Ironically despite Australia being a major producer of uranium, its current Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, constantly denigrates nuclear power [1]. But that's par for the course in Australian politics ("Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck"). 1: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FBowenchris+nuclear https://www.google.com.au/search?q=site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftwit...
mschuster91 3y ago
> Pretty sure most solar panels are also sourced from countries that are not aligned with western values That's purely a pricing reason, and a bit of a "let's outsource the environmental pollution to China" as well (anything involving silicon tends to use quite nasty chemicals, there's a reason like half the Silicon Valley is a Superfund site). Germany for example used to be the worldwide leader in manufacturing solar panels thanks to a massive subsidy program that kickstarted the industry. Should China decide to cut us off, it's trivial to establish domestic production again - essentially, a solar panel is a bunch of decently purified sand. That stuff is available everywhere on the planet, unlike gas, oil or uranium. > while Australia is one of the largest producers of Uranium ore and nuclear powerplants are built locally. It took the US almost two years to ban the import of Russian uranium [1] despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Besides, Australia and Canada are the only two stable, clearly Western-allied democracies out of the 10 top uranium producers and only account for ~18% of worldwide production. The rest is either too neutral for my taste (Namibia, India), failed states (Niger), an active warzone (Ukraine) or some sort of autocracy (the rest). With these circumstances alone, it's beyond foolish to rely on nuclear. [1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-passes-bill-banning-uranium-imports-russia-2023-12-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-passes-bill-bannin... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_uranium_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_uranium_p...

by skrbjc 3y ago

jbarham 3y ago

Ironically despite Australia being a major producer of uranium, its current Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, constantly denigrates nuclear power [1]. But that's par for the course in Australian politics ("Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck"). 1: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FBowenchris+nuclear https://www.google.com.au/search?q=site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftwit...

mschuster91 3y ago

> Pretty sure most solar panels are also sourced from countries that are not aligned with western values That's purely a pricing reason, and a bit of a "let's outsource the environmental pollution to China" as well (anything involving silicon tends to use quite nasty chemicals, there's a reason like half the Silicon Valley is a Superfund site). Germany for example used to be the worldwide leader in manufacturing solar panels thanks to a massive subsidy program that kickstarted the industry. Should China decide to cut us off, it's trivial to establish domestic production again - essentially, a solar panel is a bunch of decently purified sand. That stuff is available everywhere on the planet, unlike gas, oil or uranium. > while Australia is one of the largest producers of Uranium ore and nuclear powerplants are built locally. It took the US almost two years to ban the import of Russian uranium [1] despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Besides, Australia and Canada are the only two stable, clearly Western-allied democracies out of the 10 top uranium producers and only account for ~18% of worldwide production. The rest is either too neutral for my taste (Namibia, India), failed states (Niger), an active warzone (Ukraine) or some sort of autocracy (the rest). With these circumstances alone, it's beyond foolish to rely on nuclear. [1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-passes-bill-banning-uranium-imports-russia-2023-12-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-passes-bill-bannin... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_uranium_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_uranium_p...