The conference schedule for upcoming nuclear power forum in Mount Isa is firming.

The prospect of a future energy mix including nuclear power will be the theme of the Katter Party’s ‘What if we went nuclear?’ event.

The forum’s first confirmed speaker is Adjunct Professor Stephen Wilson, who will deliver a keynote address. 

Professor Wilson is an energy economist and an engineer with over 30 years’ experience in energy systems and markets of all kinds. 

He has worked on projects in over 30 countries as a consultant, a corporate executive, and as a teaching and research academic and is a director of a company that is commercialising technology with applications for 21^stcentury modular nuclear energy. 

The second confirmed speaker is Nuclear-for-Australia’s 17-year-old founder Will Shackel who is gaining respect and carving himself a national reputation as a youth advocate for nuclear power. 

Through his advocacy he started a petition to legalise Nuclear Energy, sent a letter to the Prime Minister, has made appearances across national media including on Sunrise, A Current Affair and Q+A and in May provided evidence to an Australian Senate Committee in Canberra on why he believed nuclear energy should be legalised. 

Related: Mount Isa hosts nuclear power forum

The third confirmed speaker is James Reynolds. James, who originally hails from North West Queensland, is the founder of Mirabou Energy, the majority owner of Mirabou Energy Remote Power Systems and has 20-plus years’ experience in Australia’s energy markets and infrastructure services industries. 

Nuclear power was a theme whose time had come said Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter.  

First for rural Queensland

The forum was the first of its kind for rural Queensland and would allow the often-forgotten mining community of Mount Isa sit at the centre of the discussion, he said.

“We are yet to see this debate approached sensibly in the political arena, and in the meantime we are hurtling towards spending $1.5 trillion by 2030 and $9 trillion by 2050 if we are to continue on the delusional path reach ‘net zero’ via batteries, wind and solar,” Mr Katter said. 

“These numbers completely dwarf the $387 billon figure that Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said an initial transition to small modular nuclear reactors would cost, and that would ‘fly in the face of economics and reason’.

“It’s the people of Queensland and Australia who are being taken for fools, and they’re paying for that privilege – we can’t afford to keep going down this nonsensical path.” 

Policy mix

The party’s policy was that nuclear power should form only part of Australia’s energy mix said Mr Katter. 

The party also advocates that reliable ‘base load’ options such as coal-fired power, gas and nuclear should make up 50 per cent of the mix at a minimum, he said. 

He hoped the forum would add to a growing state-wide and national discussion around the future of nuclear power, Mr Katter said.

The forum will be held at the John Middlin Centre in Mount Isa.