Antinuclear

Coalition will seek a social licence for nuclear: Dutton

AFR, Phillip Coorey, 12 Mar 24

Communities will be consulted and “incentivised” to adopt nuclear power, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says as he amplifies his case for the energy source to play a central role in Australia reducing its emissions.

Mr Dutton will also pledge to “ramp up” the domestic production of gas to help firm renewable energy, in his keynote speech to be delivered to The Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday.

He will also hint at an expansion of rooftop solar, as already flagged by Nationals leader David Littleproud, as an alternative to large-scale renewable energy projects and the thousands of kilometres of transmission infrastructure that those will require……………………….

In setting the scene for his nuclear announcement, Mr Dutton will outline three principles that will guide the policy.

“First and foremost, we want to get the highest yield of energy using the smallest amount of land,” he will say.

“We want to maximise the amount of energy we can obtain per square metre and minimise our environmental footprint.”

This will be achieved by putting reactors on or near the sites of old coal-fired power stations so they can use the existing transmission grid.

The second principle will involve seeking a “social licence” for the policy “by listening to and incentivising communities to adopt nuclear power”.

A third principle is that the Coalition will put people at the centre of our energy policy by making lower energy bills a key consideration.

Mr Dutton dared the government to lift the nuclear power moratorium and let the market decide.

‘Does not make sense’

But energy experts appearing at the Summit continued to cast doubt on the feasibility of the Coalition’s approach.

Carbon Market Institute chair Kerry Schott said she was technology neutral but nuclear “really does not make sense for Australia”.

“Nuclear by far, like daylight by far, [is] the most expensive,” she said.

“It really doesn’t make sense for Australia because we have so much renewable energy resources.”

She said firming wind and solar with hydro and “a little bit of gas” until hydrogen was commercially available was “by far the cheapest and easiest”.

She did, however, agree, that putting solar panels on every rooftop would alleviate the need for Labor’s thousands of kilometres of transmission infrastructure……………………………… https://www.afr.com/business-summit/coalition-will-seek-a-social-licence-for-nuclear-dutton-20240311-p5fbby

March 12, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics