Nuclear power: Chris Bowen slams Peter Dutton, Coalition’s plans as ‘wildly unrealistic’

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has slammed the opposition’s “wildly unrealistic” nuclear energy plans after Australia’s leading science agency revealed nuclear plants would likely cost twice as much as renewables.

The new GenCost report by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will fuel the flames of an intensifying election battle over Australia’s future energy security and how to reach the target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Earlier this year opposition leader Peter Dutton signalled his party’s election pledge to convert seven coal-fired power station sites to nuclear power between 2035 and 2050, but the plan for an overhaul of the country’s energy mix has been criticised as short on details.

Mr Bowen seized on the CISRO findings to strike a blow at the Coalition’s strategy in the week that Mr Dutton is expected release his party’s long-awaited costings.

“Basically, every expert in the world thinks that the opposition’s plans are wildly realistic, wildly optimistic,” he told ABC Radio National, casting doubt on shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien’s plan to introduce the first functioning nuclear reactor by 2037.

“It’s 2024. We need new power today. We need more electricity on today. That’s what we’re doing. This is a record year for renewable energy connections in Australia. More renewable energy connected this year than any other year in Australian history,” he said. “2037 is not realistic.”

The latest economic analysis from CSIRO concluded that nuclear plants produced relatively little financial advantage despite having greater longevity compared to solar or wind farms.

The report addressed previous criticisms of a report in May that found the country’s first nuclear power plant would cost up to $17 billion and not be operational until 2040. Critics charged that it failed to account for the projected lifespan of a nuclear reactor of 60 to 80 years.

Nuclear supporters say Australia should join the global nuclear power renaissance as more countries turn to it or increase the capacity of their existing grid of reactors, as a reliable source of clean energy.

Mr O’Brien has previously argued that the business case for nuclear energy would go beyond initial costings and that details released by the end of this year will allow adequate time for scrutiny before the Federal Election.

“One, we will be looking at a total system cost. Two, we will be looking at it over a time frame so that we can ensure that we are delivering our objective, which is cheap, clean, consistent energy,” he told the Australian Financial Review in October.