Antinuclear

Opposition eyeing off six sites for nuclear reactors

New Daily, Poppy Johnston, Mar 12, 2024

Households and businesses close to the six nuclear power reactors the opposition hopes to see built could have their energy bills subsidised.

Teasing the coalition’s yet-to-be-unveiled energy policy at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, opposition leader Peter Dutton said the plan would likely include six nuclear plant sites.

Tasmania has been ruled out as a potential host state.

Dutton said the coalition would seek a social licence by incentivising close-by communities with subsided energy, a model he said was used in the United States.

“It provides incentive for industry to establish jobs,” he told the audience.

The opposition is expected to release its energy policy ahead of the federal budget in May, with the plan likely to include overturning the moratorium on nuclear technology and possible sites for reactors on old coal station locations to take advantage of existing transmission infrastructure…………….

The Albanese government has dismissed nuclear as an unsuitable technology for Australia that has a high price tag and will take too long to roll out.

Energy experts also say it’s difficult to estimate the cost of transitioning to nuclear given the technology is not currently commercially available.

Dutton addressed a number of what he described as “straw man arguments” against nuclear, including cost.

He used other regions with nuclear in the energy mix – South Korea and the Ontario region of Canada – to make his case for the system-wide cost of the energy source and its influence on power bills.

Reactors also produce a “small amount of waste” and Dutton said the government had already signed up to deal with nuclear waste via the AUKUS agreement……………………………. https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2024/03/12/dutton-six-sites-nuclear-reactors

March 15, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics