The first public hearing on nuclear energy outside Canberra has taken place in central Queensland. The committee heard from local farmers concerned about the impact of renewables on agricultural land.
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00:00This power station near Biloela in central Queensland could become the site of a nuclear
00:07reactor.
00:08Coal operations are due to be wound back and it is one of seven sites being considered
00:13across the country if the Liberals win the next federal election.
00:17But local opinion is divided.
00:19I just don't think it's viable and I think it's way, way too expensive.
00:23The first parliamentary hearing into nuclear energy is taking place in the town as the
00:28region experiences a renewables boom.
00:31Some farmers prefer nuclear over wind and solar farms.
00:35It's using up and consuming large tracts of very valuable agricultural land, untouched
00:41pristine forests and areas with really high biodiversity.
00:44Nuclear, the benefits of it are that it can be set up at existing infrastructure with
00:49existing transmission lines.
00:52It's a power that is baseload, it's reliable.
00:55There are concerns about water capacity.
00:58The reservations that I still have then are water, water's quite scarce in this valley.
01:05The other thing that really bothers some of us is dealing with the waste, the nuclear
01:11waste.
01:12The hearing's been told consultant David Collins, hired by the federal opposition,
01:17has visited stakeholders.
01:19Queensland's new LNP government says nuclear energy is not part of its plan and laws currently
01:24banning the industry in the state would need to be overturned and that could prompt a plebiscite
01:30on the issue.
01:31There's been several speakers, obviously, some for and some against nuclear energy.
01:37Obviously it's a polarising debate.
01:39Nuclear is the only alternative, if you're not going coal.
01:43The hearings continue in Nanango and Brisbane this week and interstate next month.
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