CSIRO report suggests nuclear will cost twice as much as renewables

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Opposition leader Peter Dutton's nuclear power plan for the country has been overshadowed by how much it could end up costing.   Modelling released today by the CSIRO suggests building a nuclear power plant in Australia would cost twice as much as renewable energy.  It comes as the coalition prepares to release the cost of its own nuclear plan.

Transcript

00:00This report is released by the CSIRO about once a year and it basically analyzes the

00:07cost of Australia's future energy needs.

00:10We're of course in the midst of a clean energy transition and so what the CSIRO does is compare

00:15the cost of different types of technologies that will need to replace coal-fired power

00:19stations that are closing.

00:21Now because the coalition adopted nuclear as part of its suite of policies, for the

00:25first time this year the CSIRO analyzed the cost of large-scale nuclear reactors.

00:32Now at the time it faced heavy criticism from the coalition and from some nuclear proponents

00:36who described the analysis as flawed and that was because of two reasons at the time.

00:42They pointed out that nuclear reactors last for 60 years or more which is about twice

00:46as long as a wind or solar farm so costs are spread out over a longer period and critics

00:52also argued that the CSIRO underestimated how often a nuclear power plant could operate

00:57at full capacity during the year.

00:59So when it was putting together this latest report the CSIRO said fair enough, we're happy

01:04to alter our assumptions, plug in new numbers and what it found was there was little difference,

01:12the conclusion was the same.

01:13So according to the CSIRO the cost of building a nuclear power plant is about twice that

01:19of renewables even firmed by batteries and storage so in other words it would cost twice

01:24as much to build a nuclear power plant than it would to build a large-scale wind and solar

01:28farm.

01:29And then on the timing front, this is also a crucial point, the CSIRO says that looking

01:34at international evidence it believes it would take at least 15 years to build the first

01:38reactor in Australia which is of course problematic because if the current forecasts are correct

01:4590% of Australia's coal-fired power stations are on track to close in the next 10 years.

01:50So the cost and the timing are the kind of two issues covered in this report.

01:54And as you say Jane, the report comes in the middle of a heated debate over energy policy

01:59so what's been the response to it?

02:01The Federal Government says this is just more evidence that its approach, its renewables

02:05led approach, is the cheapest way of overhauling the energy system.

02:10So under Labor's policy 82% of the nation's power will come from renewables by 2030, that's

02:15about twice as much as is happening now and the CSIRO's report does say that large-scale

02:21wind and solar firmed by batteries and even gas is the lowest cost new form of generation.

02:29Now the Coalition disagrees with this, even after the CSIRO accommodated its initial criticisms

02:36the opposition leader Peter Dutton hasn't really addressed the report itself but he

02:40believes that Australia does need nuclear power, that's why the Coalition's taking this

02:44policy to the next election.

02:47Despite the CSIRO's bindings the Coalition has said that its policy would be cheaper

02:52than Labor's.

02:53We're yet to see that modelling, it will be coming out this week but for a bit of a snapshot

02:57of the response to the CSIRO's report, here's Cabinet Minister Mark Dreyfus this morning.

03:03We need to get on and get our power network converted to renewables with firming gas

03:10in the interim and that's the course that the government's engaged in.

03:14Mr Dutton should stop with his nuclear fantasy.

03:19And here is how the opposition leader Peter Dutton responded.

03:23Do you know what, they haven't even seen our plan yet and yet they're out bagging it.

03:28It just looks to me like there's a heavy hand of Chris Bowen in all of this and I don't

03:32think people want to see that.

03:34I think what they know from Chris Bowen at the moment is that he's wrecking the energy

03:37system and that's wrecking the economy and that's why families are facing food inflation

03:43and higher prices when they go to the supermarket.

03:47Peter Dutton there and as I mentioned we are expecting to see the much anticipated costings

03:52of the Coalition's nuclear policy sometime this week, Ros.

03:55Thanks Jay.

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