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Universities and the Nuclear Industry

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Opportunities to Waste, Australian Universities and the Nuclear Industry, a report released in April 2007[1] by the Australian Student Environment Network, examines the role of Australian universities in supporting, legitimising and furthering the nuclear industry, at the expense of research, development and education in the fields of renewable energy technologies.

Climate change is real, it is happening now and its effects are accelerating. We are responding to a consensus of scientists worldwide and a strong global movement taking action to avert dangerous climate change. In Australia, the nuclear industry and other pro-nuclear advocates have been quick to reinvent nuclear power as “clean, green and a solution to climate change,” keen to take advantage of climate abatement funding.

Universities have already shown they are eager to exploit the enthusiasm of the Australian Federal Government to expand the nuclear industry, begging for research and education dollars and positioning science and engineering faculties for increased funding of nuclear research and development.

Australian universities sent a barrage of submissions to the 2006 Federal Government ‘Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review’ (UMPNER) regarding the lack of education and research for the nuclear industry. In 2006, there were no courses in nuclear engineering offered in Australia; the sole remaining School of Nuclear Engineering at the University of NSW was closed in the 1980s, at the height of a diverse and vibrant anti-nuclear movement [2]. With over two decades of minimal education and training, the nuclear industry and the Federal Government have a lot of work to do if they are to expand the nuclear industry in Australia.

The UMPNER report revealed a belief that research and development are key to the future existence of the industry noting; “[t]he role of R&D in the nuclear industry is more important than in many other industries because the implications of technology failure relate not only to operational costs of the industry, but also to safety and ultimately the industry’s ‘license to operate’.” (Ch 10, p 2)

In July, John Howard announced $12.5 million for the Nuclear Collaborative Research Program, beginning what is expected to be half a billion dollars pouring into universities to build a skills pool of nuclear scientists and engineers in Australia. The funding is administered by the Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE), of which 36 of Australia’s 37 universities are members. AINSE believe the funding will “help develop a core nuclear skills base“ and is part of a “nuclear capability building exercise that will introduce research programs into universities and facilitate the training of graduate engineers, chemists and materials scientists whose skills could support a nuclear power industry”. Specifically, the research dollars are marked for a project of the US-led Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), developing so-called Generation IV nuclear energy reactors. Five million dollars is also earmarked for establishing infrastructure at Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to support collaborative research with universities. The remaining $7.5 million will fund new academic positions, targeted research grants, and scholarships.

Following the announcement, AINSE formed the Nuclear Technology Specialist Committee and Australian Nuclear Education Forum were established, with representation from universities and ANSTO. These Committees are responsible for administering the funding and for developing of nuclear courses in universities. AINSE claim “the overall aim of the establishment of these committees is to maximize university input and to reinforce the linkages between the universities and ANSTO”.

[edit] Privatisation, Corporatisation and Deregulation of Australian Universities

The past ten years of the Coalition Government has seen a dramatic restructuring of higher education. This restructuring, loosely understood as a process of privatisation, corporatisation and deregulation, has increased the power and influence wielded by the Federal Government and major corporations over research priorities and the course content of universities. The current push by the Coalition Government and powerful industry groups to expand uranium mining, begin enrichment programs and potentially produce nuclear power is impacting on the activity of universities.

The most significant element of the restructure has been a shift in the funding base of universities from public to private sources, namely fee-paying student and business. The mining sector boasts they contribute to 42% of all research funding in Queensland. Australia-wide, the mining sector claims to account for ten per cent of all university research funding - more than half a billion dollars[3]. In 2002, then Education Minister Brendan Nelson, campaigning for the passage into legislation of his reform package ‘Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future,’ which greatly accelerated this trend argued; “our definition of universities should not be so narrow as to exclude one that undertakes research which is driven predominantly, but not entirely, by industry” [4].

While the majority of university funds are now coming from private sources, the Federal Government is using remaining levels of public funding to exercise far more explicit control over university activities. Academics from a wide spectrum of disciplines are worried about the political pressures shaping mechanisms for allocation of research funding.

The Federal Government’s current ‘Designated National Research Priorities’ aim to reinforce the country’s economic dependence on mineral industries. Despite constant reference to “sustainability”, the National Research Priorities aim to prolong the use of finite resources and polluting energy industries; packaging coal and nuclear research as examining “solutions” to climate change.

The Government’s focus on the incorporation of “other stakeholders” in the National Research Priorities furthers the interests of BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and other uranium mining companies. Funding provided by the industry in the areas of uranium mining, nuclear science and waste management create a prominent and disturbing focus on non-renewable energy research and education in Australian universities.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has also aligned its research goals to the Government’s National Research Priorities (ANSTO, 2006e). With AINSE operating as the link between universities and the use of facilities at ANSTO, the direction and focus of ANSTO’s facilities will be reflected in the research that is permitted there. With the Government currently pushing hard for a nuclear industry expansion, the role of ANSTO, the use of its facilities and the research undertaken by universities begins to fall into line behind the goals of the Federal Government.

Both industry and universities admit the extent to which industry needs govern research and education priorities in universities. This is done through academic post and research funding, Industry-University partnerships, bodies and Institutions such as the Minerals Tertiary Education Council. The UMPNER report noted “direct industry involvement through measures such as cadetships and joint development of programs would be a means of ensuring that the education and training sector meets the needs of the industry” (Ch 10, p 8).

[edit] Emerging Opportunities to Waste: Universities the Proposed Nuclear Industry Expansion

As the Liberal Government has consciously sought to dismantle public education and union power within the university, the ground has been laid for an expanding influence of profitable, but dangerous industries within the tertiary sector. By building on the links between universities and the nuclear industry and sustaining nuclear science research and education funding, we are continuing down the path of making these industries more viable and inclined to be adopted. It is this inclination that is worrying in its impacts for sustaining the nuclear industry through the public research capacities of our universities.

The findings of the Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review recognised the substantial research and education challenges the Federal Government and nuclear industry face as they attempt to expand the industry. The findings of UMPNER support calls from industry, industry lobby groups and universities for a massive increase in funding for research and education, calling for even further involvement of industry in university education and curricula. This is a move that would undermine any remaining public interest role for universities, warp educational curricula, and most certainly impinge on academic freedom.

Nuclear education, research and development has been stunted by a long history of Australians resisting the nuclear industry and supporting indigenous communities in their struggles to protect country, such as the Irati Wanti campaign to stop a radioactive waste dump in South Australia, and the successful Mirrar campaign to stop uranium mining at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory.

It is possible for Australian universities to divest and resist new funding and declare institutions nuclear-free.

In 1995, the University of Technology Sydney University Council created university policy recognising the “growing body of scientific evidence that smoking is harmful to human health” and decided the University would not “seek or accept funding for any activity that will enhance the marketing of tobacco products.” Universities can do the same for nuclear and fossil fuel industries.

In the face of dangerous climate change, Australian universities have an important opportunity and responsibility to invest in ethical research frameworks for a safe, secure, non-polluting renewable energy sector.


The report Opportunities to Waste: Australian Universities and the Nuclear Industry is available for download from http://www.asen.org.au/OpportunitiesToWaste/

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Opportunities to Waste, Australian Universities and the Nuclear Industry on asen.org.au
  2. ↑ Kemeny, ‘Australia Needs Nuclear Education’, p9, Submission to UMPNER
  3. ↑ Thorne, Dr C Grant, July 2004, speech available http://www.riotintocoalaustralia.com.au/newsroom/speech.asp?Id=15 Accessed 7 April, 2006
  4. ↑ Nelson, B “The vision of education – higher education reform”, The Sydney Papers, Autumn 2002
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