Cracks appear in Dutton’s nuclear plan as more details emerge on cheap power supply

On Wednesday, Mr Dutton said the government’s “renewable energy policy is not fit for purpose”. But he admitted his policy had not yet been costed. “We will publish more information about costs in due course and as you know we have been doing that over time. Today the focus is on sites,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Dutton said a future Coalition government would first build small modular reactors, which are not currently in commercial production, or large reactors. He said small reactors could be operational by 2035, while large reactors would be generating electricity by 2037.

This contradicts the timeline of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which previously discovered the first nuclear reactor It will not be completed until 2040 Each reactor costs up to $16 billion to build in Australia. The CSIRO said construction costs could fall to $8.6 billion, but noted the first reactor could cost double that because of starting the industry from scratch.

The proposal was rejected by state governors, some Kuomintang lawmakers and industry insiders

State premiers, who all have nuclear bans that need to be overturned, quickly rejected the plan. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he would not lift his state’s nuclear ban, although the state’s opposition said they were open to it. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan vowed to oppose Mr Dutton’s proposal, while Opposition Leader John Pesutto said his party had no plans to introduce it.

National leader David Littleproud was forced to ask his deputy Perin Davey to act on the policy, but the party is divided, with several of its NSW MPs vowing to oppose the reactors if their communities oppose them.

David said on Wednesday the opposition would not force the construction of a nuclear reactor against the will of the community, announcing there were no plans to look for other sites beyond the seven already identified. “If the community insists, we will not proceed, but we will not look for other sites beyond these seven,” she said.

But Littleproud told the ABC the comment was “not correct and we have made that clear”. “As part of the Coalition Government, Peter Dutton and David Littleproud are prepared to make difficult decisions in the national interest,” he said.

Bathurst NSW MP Paul Toole said he would oppose the proposal to build the Mount Piper coal power station in Lithgow. “The announcement is lacking in detail and raises more questions than answers. I will stand 100 per cent with the views of my community.”

NSW Nationals Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell also told The Daily Telegraph He rejected plans to build a reactor at the Liddell coal-fired power station in his electorate. “I do not accept the federal government’s decision to push a facility onto an Upper Hunter community,” he said.

In a separate interview, Liberal senator Jane Hume failed to reveal which Loyjan power station would be the site for Victoria’s new power plant, suggesting one could be considered after the two stations retire.

Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester, whose Gippsland electorate includes the Latrobe Valley coal-fired power station, said the region had some strategic advantages due to existing transmission infrastructure and a skilled workforce. But he warned that “more detailed investigations will need to be done in the coming years”.

“I will listen to local people, consult with experts, put the needs of Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley first and always strive to act in the national interest,” he said.

But South Australian Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey, whose electorate includes the town of Port Augusta, welcomed the policy because of the “significant number of jobs that will be created during construction and potentially hundreds of jobs over the life of the reactor”.

“There will be an economic zone and a portion of the electricity generated by the reactor will be allocated to the economic zone and it will be up to the community to decide how to use that electricity to attract new industries or businesses,” he said.

Some owners of coal-fired power stations with plans to develop nuclear power, including AGL, Origin, EnergyAustralia and Alinta, have previously said they have no plans to develop nuclear power in Australia.

Origin Energy, Australia’s largest electricity and gas supplier, warned that time and cost would be major issues, while the Australian Industry Group also expressed concerns about costs and rising government debt. AGL, which owns two nuclear reactor sites, again warned that the debate could undermine key investments in the clean energy transition.

Labor calls Dutton’s plan ‘economic madness’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the Coalition’s nuclear policy a “fantasy” that the market would not fund because it was 15 years away. “It would lead to higher energy prices, less energy security, fewer jobs. It’s economic madness,” he told ABC Melbourne TV.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen accused the opposition of crafting its nuclear policy to extend the life of fossil fuels. “They say they want a moratorium on renewables and this policy is designed to do just that – slow down or stop renewables and keep us reliant on coal for longer while we wait for the nuclear fantasy to come to fruition,” he said.

“The Australian people now have a very clear choice: stick with this plan, or opt for this no-cost, no-model fantasy that Mr Dutton is putting forward today.”

Mr Dutton said last week the Coalition remained committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 but would not release its medium-term climate target until after the federal election in May next year.

The Opposition Leader has launched a campaign against the Albanese government’s renewable energy plans, saying they will push up power bills and destabilise the grid. On Wednesday, Mr Dutton made the unfounded claim that the federal government’s renewable energy push would cost more than $1 trillion and said nuclear power would cost “a fraction of that”.

The renewable energy industry has rejected Dutton’s claims about the technology, including his assertion that increasing the share of renewables in the grid would raise power prices and the risk of blackouts.

“Australia has no nuclear power industry, so building new reactors would take at least 20 years and cost six times as much as nuclear power,” said Kane Thornton, chief executive of the Clean Energy Council. “The Coalition’s nuclear policy will lead to project delays and skyrocketing energy bills.”

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