Nuclear push 'a terrorism risk'

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AUSTRALIA'S push towards nuclear power generation could heighten the risk of a terrorist attack, Labor MP Kelvin Thomson said today. The debate over nuclear power and uranium exports re-emerged last week as Prime Minister John Howard visited the United States and held energy talks as part of a two-week, three-country tour. Both Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have advocated considering uranium enrichment as part of the nuclear power generation process.

"The problem with nuclear power is that more of it that is around, the easier it is for terrorists to get access to it and I'm not satisfied that in this day and age we can be absolutely certain that terrorists can't access it,"
Mr Thomson said. Instead of nuclear power, Mr Thompson suggested a much safer and environmentally-friendly option would be renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

Mr Thomson said Australia was potentially a world-leader in solar power. "Surely you exhaust all the other alternatives first before you say let's go down the nuclear road," he said. Mr Thomson also accused the Government of insufficiently supporting climate change. "They have not been sincere in this issue, if they were sincere about climate change they would supporting renewable energy."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19216232-1702,00.html