THE NUCLEAR OPTION?

Dutton’s nuclear strategy appeals to his climate-denying colleagues

in the coalition and his fossil-fuel mining masters

Opposition leader Dutton has ramped-up the climate deniers campaign with an ill-conceived, hasty and ridiculous plan to try and convince Australia that “next generation nuclear power is the only feasible and proven technology that can firm-up renewables and help us achieve our goals of clean, cost effective and consistent power – it is safe and has zero emissions”.

His words, not mine, are clouded in meaningless rhetoric and omit many absolutely essential facts, a few of which are:

• The small modular reactors (SMRs) that Dutton would rely on do not exist yet, the only two believed to be still under construction are in Russia and China, and a third in USA has been abandoned due to extreme cost overruns.
• The current cost to produce 1kWh (kilowatt hour) of power with nuclear technology is 15 to 20 times more than with renewables.
• The cost to build 6 nuclear reactors as proposed is estimated to be about $80 billion each. You do the sum, because Dutton hasn’t!
• Australia has neither the expertise nor the workforce that would be required for a project of this size
• With bipartisan support and everything lining up favourably the earliest possible nuclear power would not be available until the 2040’s. By then the planet may be well and truly cooked, flooded and/or burnt.
• Two other important omissions that will be analysed in depth in the near future are:
  • – nuclear power relies on a finite resource and is not renewable,– the elephant in the room – nuclear waste disposal!

This badly disguised ploy by Dutton may appease the majority of climate deniers in his party and the Nationals, as well as the masters of the right in Australia – the fossil fuel industry, who, unsurprisingly, are in almost unanimous support of Dutton’s half-baked plan.