whatyareckon

Nuclear power is the obvious choice for naval submariners keen on speed, reliability and stealth. Which is why Australia has just signed up to join the big boys with a fleet of its very own nuclear-powered submarines.

While there might be plenty to debate about the terms of that deal, one thing is crystal clear: now that Australia is set to have a swag of nuclear-powered U-boats, there is no good reason to maintain its idiotic ban on nuclear power plants, and every good reason for set that aside, and crack on with a nuclear-powered future. A move that can begin right now, with Small Modular Reactors of the kind being developed and built by America’s NuScale and Britain’s Rolls-Royce.

SMRs are no pipe dream: 200 small nuclear reactors are presently powering 160 ships and submarines all around the world, and have been for decades.

Thanks to an obsession with…