Bid to build nuclear power plant in SA

THREE of Australia's richest men have formed a private company to set up the first nuclear power plant in the country, with South Australia and Victoria identified as potential locations.

Former SA Economic Development Board chairman Robert de Crespigny and business identities Hugh Morgan and Ron Walker are the key shareholders of a company called Australian Nuclear Energy Pty Ltd.

Mr Morgan, the former head of previous Olympic Dam uranium mine owner Western Mining, is chairman of the venture and owns 20 per cent of the company.

Mr de Crespigny and his close friend Mr Walker each hold a 40 per cent stake in the business.

The trio are examining the viability of setting up a nuclear plant at sites in South Australia or Victoria. A source close to the business partners told The Advertiser the company had raised its plans with the Federal Government and the Rann and Bracks governments.

The company is also talking to the U.S.-based General Electric company which is the world's largest supplier of nuclear generation equipment.

"The company was formed to investigate the feasibility of setting up a nuclear plant in Victoria," the source said.

"Informal discussions have been held with the Federal Government and the South Australian and Victorian state governments."

But Premier Mike Rann last night said he had not heard of the company and would not consider its proposal.

Body: "If they ever try to see me, they will be shown the door," he said.
The high-powered business push for a nuclear plant comes at a sensitive time for the Federal Government as it examines the recommendations of the Switkowski report.

Earlier this month the state Labor premiers warned the Howard Government it should temper its support for nuclear power generation.

"The (premiers) call on the Prime Minister to provide assurances that federal powers will not be used to impose nuclear power stations or waste dumps on the states and territories," the premiers said on February 8.

Mr Rann ruled out nuclear power at the time. "A nuclear power station costing a couple of billion dollars would not be either financially or economically viable given our population size," he said.

The Rann Government successfully fought off a Federal Government bid to place a low-level radioactive waste dump in the state's Outback in 2004.

The de Crespigny proposal could put Mr Rann in a difficult political position, with the former EDB boss a key architect of bureaucratic and funding changes driving a mining exploration boom. He was also a member of the State Government Cabinet executive committee.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks vowed in December to put any proposal for a nuclear plant to a referendum.

In December the Federal Government's expert review of the potential for nuclear power generation headed by former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski, recommended Australia could have 25 nuclear plants by 2050.

Dr Switkowski said the first reactor could be operating within 10 years.

A study published last month by the Australia Institute think-tank identified the South-East, the upper Spencer Gulf and Port Adelaide as potential nuclear energy plant sites.South Australia has been the epicentre of a uranium exploration boom in Australia, with more than 50 companies now searching for uranium ore in the state.

Australia's first nuclear reactor, at Lucas Heights near Sydney, was shut down last month after 50 years as an experimental facility.

The Lucas Heights site does not generate power and the decommissioned reactor will be replaced at a cost of $350 million this year.

source news : news.com.au