The Anti-Nuclear people have had a field day of ranting and raving about the nuclear problems that Japan is battling. They are absolutely delighted that Japan’s tsunami gave them a new platform to parade their delusions.

Their hypocrisy has driven me further into the realm of nuclear believers. Most of the critics are people who spend all day worrying about what might kill them, instead of enjoying life to the full. Death is going to get us all one day, so let us all relax and let it happen.

The facts on the Japanese tragedy are these:

• The ailing nuclear power station in Japan was an outdated facility with inadequate safeguards that should have been replaced years ago, as it is nowhere near the standards of sophistication of Japan’s new breed of nuclear generators.

• The fault lies not with nuclear power, but with the lazy, corrupt and inefficient governments that Japan has had for decades. They stand condemned for not closing that power station years ago. It has been an act of utter negligence, and now they must make no effort to save any part of it. In its entirety, it must be closed forever.

• Generated correctly, nuclear power is safe and it is carbon-free. In addition, the critical issues relating to the storage of nuclear waste are gradually being solved.

• In any one year, more people die from cancers caused by radiation from the sun than have been killed by nuclear emissions over the whole of history, including Chernobyl.

• On any given day, more people die from road accidents than have met their demise through all the years of nuclear mishaps. No one is calling for cars to be banned.

Australia must start its nuclear industry now.

Ziggy Switkowski’s report on nuclear power for Australia that he prepared in 2006 is well worth reading. Amongst many important findings, he says that nuclear power will become cheaper when an ETS is operating, as it will be able to trade fairly against carbon-producing power stations.