00:00In Port Augusta, renewable energy dominates the local landscape.
00:06As you drive into the town, you can't miss the multiple wind turbines and the solar panels
00:11that help power the nearby tomato production facility.
00:15But could nuclear soon join the energy mix?
00:17We have a vision for our country to deliver cleaner electricity, cheaper electricity and
00:23consistent electricity.
00:26Already, Port Augusta is shaping as a battleground for Labor and the Coalition's opposing solutions
00:32to reducing carbon emissions.
00:34Earlier this month, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen was in town, spruiking the Federal
00:39Government's renewable plan.
00:40This whole precinct being transformed.
00:42But it's the Coalition's pre-election announcement that the town of 14,000 people could be the
00:48site for one of up to seven nuclear plants across Australia that is dominating conversation.
00:53I'm open-minded about it, and I think a lot of people are in the community, they just
00:58want to know more.
01:00Concrete company Hallett has already begun work on a multi-million dollar green cement
01:04project on the site, and an export port has also been proposed.
01:09But Ms Shine says genuine local interest in nuclear remains.
01:13I think it's really good that we've got communities who are wanting to hear about this and understand
01:16what that does actually mean.
01:18The objection to nuclear has been political and not scientific.
01:21It has been used as a tool of division in Australia for 50 years now.
01:26Outgoing local Coalition MP Rowan Ramsey is championing his party's nuclear vision.
01:31And while major incidents such as Chernobyl in the Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan have
01:35made many Australians wary of nuclear technology, Mr Ramsey says regardless of whether the opposition
01:41wins government, that fear will have to be overcome.
01:44Guess what comes out of orcas submarines?
01:46High-level nuclear waste.
01:47So Australia already has to deal with this issue.
01:50This is not an extraneous matter now.
01:52This is something that we're already committed to.
01:55Energy expert Bruce Mountain says it's frustrating that politics dominates energy debate in Australia.
02:00He says while nuclear would, at best, only have a small role to play, it could, in places
02:06like Port Augusta, work seamlessly with renewables.
02:09You can co-locate batteries and wind and solar farms in a nuclear power station if you have
02:15the transmission capability.
02:19Lindsay Thomas is a Nookanoo elder and custodian over the land where the plant could be built.
02:23Our people don't believe in this.
02:24We don't believe it should have even been dug out of the ground anywhere in Australia.
02:29We believe it's poison.
02:33The Nookanoo people's opposition to the nuclear power plant for Port Augusta is so strong,
02:38Lindsay Thomas says they'd be willing to go to court to stop it.
02:42I believe we would.
02:44I believe as I stand here, how I talk about the opposition to this, I'm sure I would.
02:52Mr Thomas says he's taking hope from the Bungalow people's win to block the Kimber nuclear waste
02:56dump from being built, 150km away.
03:01Citizen scientist and master diver Geoff Bowie is also opposed.
03:05He says placing a nuclear reactor in the unique environment of the upper Spencer Gulf is too risky.
03:11The Gulf is on a knife's edge.
03:12All we need is one little more impact and we'll probably lose the Gulf and all of the
03:18positives that it has.
03:20And locals who have been promised big projects before still want to hear a lot more about
03:24the plan.
03:25How is this all going to work?
03:26How is it going to affect our families?
03:28How is it going to affect our employment?
03:31What are you going to do with everything?
03:32Why is nuclear so good for this town?
03:35That answer to those questions could help determine the next federal election.
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