THE Port Adelaide Mayor and a local MP say they do not want a nuclear reactor built in their patch.

Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor Gary Johanson and State Labor Port Adelaide MP Susan Close say any such plan for the heart of the Port would not be viable.

Mr Johanson said because the district was only 14km from the city it should not be an option for generating nuclear energy.

He said Port Augusta, 322km north of Adelaide, was a better and more “convenient” option for the state.

While Mr Johanson would not be drawn on the viability of storing the state’s nuclear waste on the Le Fevre Peninsula, he said a power plant would not work even if it did create jobs.

The Portside Messenger last week reported Adelaide-born Professor Ian Plimer said building a nuclear power plant in Port Adelaide would help the struggling district create jobs and drive a rejuvenation of the district.

Prof Plimer, an expert geologist and professor of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, said the state “desperately needs employment”.

The State Government has launched a Royal Commission investigating expanding the nuclear industry across SA.

In an online poll at Advertiser.com.au, 66.15 per cent of respondents, or 428 people, said SA should have nuclear power.

“There are benefits in job creation in other areas such as freight but I don’t think it is feasible to have a nuclear power plant in the Port,” Mr Johanson said.

“I can’t see you would want to build it anywhere in metropolitan Adelaide.”

Mr Johanson said most Port Adelaide residents would not want to live near a nuclear reactor.

He said Port Augusta was ideal because it was close to other semi-operating power stations.

The stations used to provide 40 per cent of the state’s power before they were partially shut down three years ago.

“Port Augusta is a great town with a good workforce,” Mr Johanson said.

“I don’t mean to say put it right in the middle of the town, but put it out where the existing power generators are.”

Dr Close agreed the Port was ill-suited for nuclear power.

“The idea of a nuclear plant in the Port is a ridiculous and inflammatory suggestion and I don’t support it,” she said.

Local real estate agent Rob McLachlan said a nuclear power plant in the heart of the Port would not attract people to live in the area.

Port Augusta mayor Sam Johnson did not return calls before the Portside Messenger’s deadline.

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