Portland in the Australian state of Victoria is the oldest European settlement in the state. It was founded in the early Nineteenth Century but only designated as an Australian "city" in 1895. It currently has about ten thousand residents. The primary industrial activity in Portland is an Alcoa aluminum smelter. It processes about three hundred and fifty thousand tons of aluminum each year. It is the third largest aluminum smelter in Australia and exports about thirty percent of Australia's aluminum.
On December 2nd of this year, there was a major power failure in Portland due to a problem in the Victoria system of power transmission lines. The Alcoa plant has two production lines which handle molten aluminum in pots. One of the lines stopped because of the power failure which lasted for five hours. During this time, the molten aluminum solidified in the pots on the halted line and caused severe damage. The other line was running at limited capacity because of technical problems. After the power failure, the second production line was stopped. Alcoa is currently assessing the damage and working on a plan to salvage as much of the facility as possible.
About two thousand jobs in Portland rely on the smelter. Alcoa is Victoria's biggest exporter. There is a great deal of concern about the continued viability of the smelter. Recently, Alcoa had to negotiate new higher-priced contracts for the supply of electricity to the smelter which will cost Alcoa an extra fifty million dollars this year. Alcoa will also lose forty million dollars because of a drop in aluminum prices. In addition, Alcoa is losing an important government subsidy. Currently, the Portland smelter is operating at a loss. Now with the severe accident that just occured, the future of the smelter is in serious doubt and there are some reports that it may have to close permanently within the next ten years.
Australia has a parliamentary form of government which means that there are many political parties of various sizes. The smallest parties are referred to as micro-parties. A member of Parliament (MP) from the Vote 1 Local Jobs has now been suggested that a small nuclear power plant should be built in Portland to supply reliable electricity to the smelter to help ensure its continued operation and contribution to the economy of Victoria.
Currently, Australian national law and Victorian state law prohibit the use of nuclear power for the generation of electricity. There are political forces on both sides of the issue with a major party pushing for relaxation of the nuclear prohibition and a very strong anti-nuclear movement push back.
It may be possible to improve the chances for continued operation of the Alcoa smelter in Portland if a nuclear power plant could be built to supply it with electricity. However, such a plant would require major political changes to the current Australian stance on nuclear power. In addition, such a project would require significant government support to cover the costs of building the nuclear plant. This is unlikely in view of the fact that Alcoa recently tried and failed to receive government subsidies for changes in the regional electrical grid to make the supply of electricity to the smelter more reliable. The outlook for the Portland smelter is grim.
