A mushroom cloud over Lithgow?

No, it’s condensed water vapour emanating from the Mt Piper power station out along the Mudgee road.
Now Mt P is coal fired and as such is quite rightly regarded as a major contributor to Australia’s emissions so is to be decommissioned although the date for the closure has been extended considerably. It is also at the centre of Australia’s controversy du jour as it has been nominated by the political opposition as one of the 7 potential sites for a nuclear reactor if elected.
For those overseas blippers not up to date on our national energy debate, our government says we can reach our net zero targets and also keep the lights on by transitioning to renewables alone while the opposition claims this can’t be done, hence the need for nuclear energy to supplement the above.
I’m not an expert on either case so I’m not going to buy into the argument but I’m intrigued by the fact that all we hear on either side is from politicians and self appointed media commentators, mainly with legal or journalism degrees who are no more qualified to comment than I am with my veterinary degree.
Anyway, it does make for a nice peaceful blip in the late afternoon while returning from yet another couple of appointments in Orange.