There are three water level gauges in Lake Macquarie, at Swansea, Belmont and Marmong Point, operated by the NSW government. They show an average increase in lake level of 2.6mm a year over the last 25 years, with the rate predicted to increase as the climate warms.

This prediction is supported by measurements of the melting of the Greenland ice shelf, which alone can raise the world ocean levels by 6 to 7 metres. This melting rate doubled in 2016, to the alarm of scientists, and is unlikely to slow down.

While renewable energy plants do receive subsidies the alternative is construction of new high-efficiency low-emission (HELE) coal-fired plants.

The Australian Energy Council report their members, the major generators have, over the last decade, “shelved plans to develop such new coal-fired generation” as “the 50-year life of the assets and their relatively high emissions profile made them uninvestable”.

They also stated “such plants would only be built with governments providing billions in funding” to cover the additional financial risks and higher generation costs.

And HELE plants still only remove a fraction of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that are achieved by equivalent capacity renewables. Consequently the strong preference of both business and financial organizations remains for new wind and solar plants.

- Richard Mallaby, Wangi Wangi

HAVING helped build Liddell power station almost 50 years ago, l have a fair idea of what's involved in the layout. l believe Liddell, like a car that is worn out but still has a good body, should have a rebuild rather than running repairs.

The body or concrete structures will last for centuries, the man-made lake used for cooling will last longer, and the cooling towers and smoke stacks – also concrete – will go another round of rebuild.

Then there are the huge towers, wires, and transformers carrying thousands of megawatts of power that are already in place which, when looking at the package as a whole, would have to cut the cost and time of construction by half.

And because of the locality - basically free of residential housing and human occupation - it’s the perfect place to build our first nuclear power station.

If Australia wishes to reduce their carbon footprint while also increasing their power output, which will surely happen, we need to follow the path of the world’s leading industrial nations who are already using nuclear power and have been doing so for the last 50 years.

Fifty years to fine tune and correct all possible safety issues, 50 years there for our convenience, 50 years of saving us experimental expenses, 50 years for doom sayers to realise it couldn't be more safe.

Of course, renewables will be part of the supply, but l believe to get to the point where they may take over entirely will take the life time or use-by date of a second rebuild.

Let’s just look at 50 years at a time. The way technology is changing and improving, who knows what 50 years will bring?

- Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek

WHILE returning from Sydney by our antiquated train service recently, with people sitting on the stairs and in the aisles, I overheard the man next to me telling someone on the phone “There isn't even a bar or restaurant on board".

I thought this poor man must come from somewhere civilised. I could have told him on his next trip to Newcastle he might possibly be able to ride on our vitally-necessary 2.7 kilometre light rail costing $220 million per kilometre.

- Margaret Smith, Adamstown