The Discernable Interviews

Australian Nuclear Energy with Dr Mark Ho

1hr 9min

22 October 2024

Australia has 33% of the world’s uranium and is responsible for 10% of the current uranium produced worldwide. For a country fixated on ‘carbon neutrality’, it exports a huge amount of ‘de-carbonised energy’ in the form of uranium but refuses, and in fact bans, the use of nuclear power.

Dr Mark Ho is a nuclear engineer at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Australia’s federal nuclear agency. He is also the current president of the Australian Nuclear Association and joined us to explore the potential of nuclear power: how it works, where it’s already deployed, and what the risks are.

It’s a conversational dive into the mechanics of nuclear power, reactor designs, meltdown protections, and the politics of nuclear energy in Australia.