Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Peter Dutton refuses to divulge costs of going nuclear at anticipated ‘could it work’ speech

Coalition’s lack of costings and absence of detail has been seized upon by critics of Australia’s potential landmark energy shift

Peter Hannam Economics correspondent, Mon 23 Sep 2024 ,  https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/23/peter-dutton-nuclear-power-policy-speech-renewables

Peter Dutton continues to refuse to release costings for the Coalition’s plan to build seven nuclear plants, saying he will announce details “in due course” before the next election.

There was “zero chance of the Albanese government reaching net zero by 2050, using renewables alone” and so nuclear energy had to be in the grid, Dutton said in a speech at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Sydney.

The much-anticipated speech from Dutton was entitled: “A Nuclear Powered Australia – could it work?

Building the seven nuclear reactors would cost “a fraction of the $1.2tn of Labor’s plan”, he said, without indicating the likely size of outlays. The Australian Energy Market Operator has put the transition cost, excluding transmission, at about $122bn.

“We’ll have more information about the cost of nuclear … in good time,” Dutton said. “It will be independently verified, and will show a cost differential, which is significant in favour of nuclear coming into the mix.”

The void of Coalition costings and how nuclear plants could lower power bills has been seized upon by critics of Australia’s potential shift into nuclear.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis last week said electricity costs could be 3.8 times higher than present levels. Energy minister Chris Bowen has cited government modelling that going nuclear would cap renewables’ expansion, resulting in a “massive” supply gap.

Dutton argued because nuclear plants could run as long as 80 years, the amortised costs over that time would make the energy source competitive against renewables, such as wind turbines that might need replacing in a quarter of that time.

Internationally, though, most of the reactors being built are either Chinese or Russian design. Excluding China’s expansion, a net 51 units shut globally in the past two decades, the World Nuclear Industry Status report stated last week.

China, though, is also installing solar farms at a far faster rate than nuclear, adding as much capacity in the first eight months alone as the US’s total, energy expert Lauri Myllyvirta said.

Dutton said even though amortisation over eight decades made nuclear competitive, it would be necessary for the government rather than commercial firms to build the plants – at least to begin with.

“Our judgment is that it should be a government asset,” he said. “There are a number of reasons for that, not just around the finances, but also in relation to safety and regulation, and I think that’s the best starting point for us.”

Dutton was asked by Guardian Australia about the size of the public debt taken on by regions that have built nuclear plants, such as Ontario, Canada, but he did not provide an answer.

Tristan Edis, one of the Ieffa report’s authors, said Ontario’s public utility had racked up $C38bn in debt, or $A70bn in current dollar terms, before its restructure. Consumers in that province had also been forced to pay for a debt retirement charge up until 2018.

Dutton repeated his claim that 19 of the top 20 economies in the world were “on this [nuclear] pathway”, with Australia the lone absentee. That number, though, ignores the closure of nuclear plants in Germany and Italy.

Dutton also declined to answer how a query about the number of nuclear plants in western nations that had started construction this century. So far, the tally is five, with one of them – the Nuscale small modular reactor plant in the US – closing before its commissioning after costs blew out from US$3.6bn (A$5.3bn) for 720 megawatts in 2020 to US$9.3bn for 462MW in 2022.

The bipartisan federal support for the Aukus nuclear-powered submarines was the reason the Coalition had not promoted nuclear energy when it was in office for almost a decade, he said.

“If you have signed up, under Aukus to dispose of waste at end-of-life, you have made a decision that it is safe to do so,” Dutton said. “Therefore, why not a domestic nuclear industry?”

September 23, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan still has no costings, and no grid connection: It’s a political hoax

ReNewEconomy, Giles Parkinson, Sep 23, 2024

Outside, in Martin Place, the voices were clear – unions and environmental groups holding placards and denouncing Coalition leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear “fantasy:” A combination of denial and delay they said: “Dutton wants gas, Dutton wants coal, nuclear is just a troll,” they chorused.

Inside the Fullerton Hotel, in the basement where Ballroom B is located, it was expected to be the moment for the nuclear true believers, but the numbers just weren’t there.

Unusually for a CEDA event, there was only a scattering of corporate table sponsors – ANZ, KPMG, and Clayton Utz – and most of the ballroom was partitioned off. Among the 160 attending, quite small for a CEDA event, there was the usual Dutton entourage, including energy spokesman Ted O’Brien, Warren Mundine, and a lot of media.

Bizarrely, many of the rest were from the clean energy industry, curious to know what they might be dealing with should the Coalition return to power next year. Did they like what they heard? Not really. Did they learn anything? No.

This was supposed to be Dutton’s occasion to spell out his nuclear power plan: “A nuclear powered Australia – could it work” was the title of the event. But we left little the wiser. The question about how many nuclear power plants, how much would they cost, when they would be built, and which technology, were not answered.

Instead, the event got a re-run of the Coalition’s renewable scare campaign. Dutton’s thesis is that wind and solar won’t work, even with storage and dispatchable back-up. Renewables, says Dutton, are dangerous and will lead to blackouts and the destruction of industry.

We’ve heard this before. It’s the common refrain of the fossil fuel and nuclear industries. They’ve gone from attacking the climate science to ignoring it, and have focused their attacks on the technology solutions. The ones that threaten their legacy and vested interests.

The Coalition uses “baseload” as if it’s another word for “reliability”. It’s not, as AEMO boss Daniel Westerman explains in this week’s Energy Insiders podcast.

Dutton did at least concede that building nuclear power stations at the seven sites identified by the Coalition will cost a lot, even if he wouldn’t say how much, or how consumers are impacted. Somehow, he imagines, the cost will be amortised by their assumed 80 year timeline. Perhaps he hasn’t seen their maintenance and refurbishment bills.………………………….

We did learn a couple of new things. One was that Dutton admitted that Aukus – the controversial deal to sign up for half a dozen nuclear submarines at horrific cost and questionable use – was as much a Trojan horse for the nuclear debate as it is an allegory for his power plans…………………

There was indeed, an awful lot of fudging. Dutton pretends that his nuclear power plan can be rolled out without new transmission lines. But he’s kidding himself, and trying to fool the public.

Firstly, the seven sites he has targeted are already filling up with their owner’s own projects – mostly battery storage and renewables. There simply isn’t room on the grid…………….

There was indeed, an awful lot of fudging. Dutton pretends that his nuclear power plan can be rolled out without new transmission lines. But he’s kidding himself, and trying to fool the public.

Firstly, the seven sites he has targeted are already filling up with their owner’s own projects – mostly battery storage and renewables. There simply isn’t room on the grid.


Secondly, the sort of nuclear reactors Dutton is planning are nearly twice the size of most coal generators – which means – as a matter of course – that there has to be more infrastructure built to support them, in transmission lines, and back-up capacity in case of a trip or unexplained outage. That is grid management 101.

Thirdly, Dutton hasn’t explained what fills the gap as coal fired power plants exit the grid. Either he has to double, table, or even quadruple his nuclear power plans – at great cost and huge new transmission requirements, or he has to rely on renewables after all, and they will also require new transmission.

Fourthly, his complaints against new transmission is largely a furphy. AEMO’s Integrated System Plan – which is little changed for when it was produced for the Coalition government – doesn’t contemplate the 28,000 kms of new transmission as Dutton claims…………

Dutton did confirm that the Coalition’s plan was to extend the life of coal fired power stations as much as it could, and build a lot of new gas generators. Quite how he believes these investment will lower the price of power to consumers was not and has never been explained.

Like nuclear, they are the most expensive sources of power. He suggested they will all be government owned, which is inevitable as private finance won’t touch it, and Snowy Hydro is quite accustomed to projects that run well over time and budget. And that way, the true cost will already be hidden from homes and businesses……………………………….

He also confirmed he doesn’t understand batteries. They can’t store energy for more than four hours he said, which is news to the project developers of more than 3,000 megawatt hours of eight-hour batteries. Has he heard of demand management? Dutton refuses to see or admit the solutions that are right in front of him.

Meanwhile, the general public is being led a merry dance by folksy promises, a solution that sounds vaguely plausible, but in reality has no chance of delivering.

The protestors with the placards outside the hotel were closest to the truth: This is about denial and delay, the whole policy is an elaborate troll, a political hoax, and a refuge for the climate deniers and do-littles. Nothing more, nothing less.  https://reneweconomy.com.au/peter-duttons-nuclear-plan-still-has-no-costings-and-no-grid-connection-its-a-political-hoax/

September 23, 2024 Posted by | business, politics | Leave a comment

Australian film-maker refused entry into India

Pearls and Irritations, By Sam Varghese, Sep 21, 2024

Australian film-maker David Bradbury has been refused entry into India, after flying into Chennai from Bangkok on 10 September with his two children, aiming to take a holiday.

Bradbury, an Oscar-nominated film-maker who is an anti-nuclear campaigner, said all three members of his family had valid visas issued by the Indian consulate in Canberra before they left Australia on 7 September.

He said he was denied entry because of a film he had made in India in 2012, about the protests against a nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, about two km away from the fishing hamlet of Idinthakarai in the southern district of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.

When Bradbury submitted his passport to immigration at Chennai, he was told that he would not be granted entry into the country.

His children were, however, allowed to enter the country.

“During the course of the rest of the day and into the night various immigration plainclothes police would come and interrogate me,” Bradbury said in a statement.

They asked him what he was doing in India, what he had done during his previous visit in 2012, who he knew in India and whom he had communicated with before coming to the country.

He was also asked to unlock his phone and give it to the authorities, something he refused to do……………………………….

Bradbury is now in Bangkok after being deported from India. He said he would be spending one more week in the Thai capital while his children visited places in India which he had intended them to visit.

While en route to India, he screened his latest documentary, Death is a lady, a tribute to Vietnam war cameraman and journalist, the legendary Neil Davis who was tragically killed in a 24-hour coup in Bangkok 39 years ago. The screening raised $407 for the children of Gaza.

“What had caused the cancellation of my Indian visa? Over the course of the afternoon and being interrogated by Indian Immigration plainclothes officers,  I quickly concluded the Indian government had not forgiven me for making a film about the anti-nuclear protest by poor fisherfolk,” Bradbury said.

The nuclear plant in question was proposed in 1986 and an agreement to build it was signed between the then Soviet Union and India in 1988.

Due to continuing protests, the plant was delayed. The idea was revived in 2000, and construction began under the then Indian government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001.

The plant became operational in 2013 and a second 1000MW unit was commissioned in August 2016, through an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Tamil Nadu chief minister late Jayalalitha Jayaram.

Kudankulam has the highest capacity of any nuclear plant in India, with 2000 MW currently installed and 2000 MW under construction. Once completed, it will have a capacity of 6000 MW. It is also the only nuclear plant in India that uses pressurised water reactors based on Russian technology.  https://johnmenadue.com/australian-film-maker-refused-entry-into-india/

September 23, 2024 Posted by | civil liberties | Leave a comment

This week – exposing and counteracting nuclear-military-industrial spin

Some bits of good news.  World leaders gathered in the UN headquarters in New York and adopted the Pact for the Future, cementing the shift away from fossil fuels as the fundamental norm for climate action. 
After a two-year project by UNICEF and the German government, Torit, a city in South Sudan, is now efficiently providing clean water to over 80% of its population.

TOP STORIES. Selling War: How Raytheon and Boeing Fund the Push for NATO’s Nuclear Expansion

Global status report highlights parlous state of nuclear power sector.Opening Pandora’s Electronic Box.Welcome to Planet Vogtle! The Lessons of Georgia’s Nuclear Boondoggle.

 Tritium into the air?

Sizewell C now: from farce to drama.
 Labour backs nuclear – but at what cost? – ALSO AT  https://nuclear-news.net/2024/09/22/1-a-labour-backs-nuclear-but-at-what-cost/ 

The 2024 World Nuclear Industry Status Report now released.

ClimateOnline Misinformation Harming Climate Change Effort: UN Chief.

Hunger. When Will It Be Enough? Humanitarian organizations call for urgent action from World Leaders as the people of Sudan face unprecedented starvation and violence [EN/AR]

Noel’s notesNuclear socialism in its glory – in The West?

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AUSTRALIA. Peter Dutton refuses to divulge costs of going nuclear at anticipated ‘could it work’ speech. Peter Dutton and the pursuit of fame . The UK’s nuclear waste problem. Nuclear debate stalls as detail goes missing in action. “Catastrophic:” Coalition plan to stop renewables and push nuclear will result in massive supply gaps

AUKUS boss insists project remains on track despite frustrations and staff upheaval within submarine agency.   

 South Australia joins Denmark in elite club of two, “pushing the boundaries” of renewable energy integration. More Australian nuclear news headlines at https://antinuclear.net/2024/09/21/australian-nuclear-news-headlines-16-23-september/        

NUCLEAR ITEMS

ARTS and CULTURE. Nuclear Free Local Authorities want to lament, not ‘celebrate’ nuclear legacy.
ATROCITIES.
 22,500 Palestinians Now Have Life-Changing Injuries Due to Israel’s Genocide.    

CLIMATE. Data center emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse? 

ECONOMICS.

Call for banks to back nuclear energy projects. World’s biggest banks pledge support for nuclear power/                                   

Western, Russian nuclear industries still intertwined, report says.

Nuclear in Australia would increase household power bills.

Hinkley Point C: Building Britain’s first nuclear reactor in 30 years.

Serbia picks EDF, Egis for study on introduction of nuclear energy.

New logo for Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) represents a costly conversation.

MIT Coalition for Palestine Announces Major Divestment Win.

EDUCATION. ‘The Genocide Gentry’: Weapon Execs Sit on Boards of Universities, Institutions

ENERGY.

ENVIRONMENT. Hinkley Point C must deploy mandated protections for fish. A Suffolk wildlife and conservation charity has called for “greater transparency” from Sizewell C in relation to its wildlife compensation schemes.

ETHICS and RELIGION. Jewish Council disappointed at Australia’s UN abstention, calls for strong international action to prevent Israeli war crimes.

New Book Explores the Intersection of God and Nuclear Weapons.

HEALTH. 
RadiationRadiation levels mysteriously spike along Norway’s border with Russia – as it’s claimed activity has been seen at test site for Putin’s ‘Flying Chernobyl’ nuclear missile

LEGAL. Nuke waste confusion continues with D.C. Circuit ruling.

MEDIA. ‘Genocide Can and Should Never Be Just a Normal Story’ CounterSpin interview with Gregory Shupak on Palestinian genocide.

Australian film-maker refused entry into India.

Nuclear horror still haunts us Threads tapped into our fear of apocalypse.

POLITICS. Patrick Lawrence: The ‘War Party’ Makes Its Plans. Biden, Harris sacrificing endless thousands of Ukrainians to retain presidency November 5. The experts comment: Key nuclear questions that the US presidential candidates should answer.

‘Obvious Conflict of Interest’: Report Reveals 50+ US Lawmakers Hold Military Stocks.

One big factor could decide if one of Wales’ biggest (nuclear) projects can happen.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.

SAFETY. Safety level at Scotland’s largest nuclear site raised to ‘enhanced’ after leaks found. Scottish nuclear base staff using pagers adds to Trident fears.

New iodine tablets for communes near French nuclear power sites.

SPINBUSTER. More nuclear reactors? Denying the risks, IAEA’s Grossi promotes unrealistic nuclear power plans.

The UK government deserves an award for the biggest load of nuclear propaganda BS yet!. Nuclear waste group spends £4,600 on logo to show it IS listening toTheddlethorpe views.

TECHNOLOGY. UK Government designates data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (Whaa-aa-t!).

Microsoft deal propels Three Mile Island restart, with key permits still needed.

Unrealistic expectations for So-Called Novel Nuclear Reactor Concepts

URANIUM. Surge in Russian uranium sent to China.

WASTES.

WAR and CONFLICT

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. North Korea inadvertently gives away location of nuclear weapons facility, with pictures of Kim Jong-un visit.

Germany will not lift restrictions on long-range weapons for Kiev.

Turkey needs to acquire nuclear arms to stop Israel, urges Erdogan’s chief fatwa giver.

UN overwhelmingly votes to sanction Israel, impose arms embargo.

September 23, 2024 Posted by | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

We don’t need nuclear power – the path to cheaper electricity is renewables

The Australia Institute,  by Matt Saunders

The last thing Australia energy market needs is nuclear power. The data is clear – more renewables will lead to cheaper electricity.

Tomorrow the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is discussing his plans to introduce nuclear power with anti-renewable energy commentator, Chris Uhlmann. No doubt we will hear the same claims about renewable energy causing electricity prices to be high and the need for nuclear power to keep prices down that both men have said in the past.

And just as was the case in the past, such claims will again be wrong.

The increased use of renewables in supplying electricity is not the cause of higher retail electricity prices – and it is clear that more renewables will lead to lower prices.

Research and data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the CSIRO all make it abundantly clear that renewables are the cheapest form of electricity, and that the high cost of energy is driven by the cost of gas and coal produced electricity.

It is not surprising that people can be misled about the cause of electricity prices. Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) is a complex market stretching to 1,925 pages of rules and regulations such that any explanation of price determination will be greatly simplified.

So let us set out the two key issues to understanding retail electricity prices:

1.      The cost of generating electricity (the wholesale price) is a surprisingly small component of the many costs that contribute to household electricity prices.

2.      The wholesale price is rarely determined by the costs of generating electricity from wind and solar. Wholesale prices are most often determined by other forms of power generation, mainly fossil fuel sources, that are more expensive than most renewable generation.

According to the ACCC the wholesale price makes up only 33% of retail electricity prices. The other components that make up the retail price of electricity include network costs (transmission and distribution), retail costs and margins, and environmental costs

If wholesale electricity prices were to double then retail prices would increase a maximum of only 33% per cent. According to earlier ACCC research about two thirds of the increase in electricity prices over the last ten years caused the increase in transmission costs.

Renewables Do NOT SET Wholesale prices

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of the NEM is how prices are set (so much so that websites like Wattclarity can devote themselves to disentangling what is going on!)………………………………………………………………………

 the best way to reduce electricity prices is to:

  • reduce demand for electricity through energy savings measures that reduces the periods when the wholesale price is set by expensive fossil-fuel generation such as gas.
  • increase production of renewables – so that it can more regularly be the price setter in the system.

Despite what you might hear tomorrow, or from others, the key to lower energy prices is not nuclear, let alone more gas, but much, much more renewable energy. While the energy market continues to rely on gas and coal, Australians will continue to pay higher prices for their electricity, and if nuclear were ever to come into the system, the price would jump even higher.  https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/we-dont-need-nuclear-power-the-path-to-cheaper-electricity-is-renewables/

September 23, 2024 Posted by | energy | Leave a comment

Why is Peter Dutton so frightened of nuclear detail?

September 23, 2024, by: The AIM Network,  https://theaimn.com/why-is-peter-dutton-so-frightened-of-nuclear-detail/

Still missing from the Coalition’s nuclear fantasy – any plans on costs, reducing climate pollution or nuclear accidents

The public will have to keep waiting after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton failed to announce anticipated costings and other detail of the Liberal National Coalition’s nuclear proposal today.

Following Mr Dutton’s speech, Solutions for Climate Australia called on the Federal Liberal and National parties to step up and tell the public just how long, how expensive and how risky their pro-nuclear reactor policy is.

Solutions for Climate Australia senior campaigner Elly Baxter said:

“Today, Peter Dutton has again failed to give any detail on how he plans to establish nuclear reactors in Australia. Mr Dutton seems to be bug-out frightened to put forward any detail – what’s he got to hide?

“Australia’s coal plants are old and falling apart. Nuclear would never be delivered in time, whereas solar and wind already provide 40% of Australia’s electricity.

Solutions for Climate Australia director Dr Barry Traill said:

“Multiple credible estimates from industry experts show that even if, somehow, the nuclear reactors were built by 2040, they could only produce 4% of Australia’s total electricity needs.

“Why would we spend many billions on the most expensive and risky way of making electricity in Australia, to produce just 4% of the power we need?

“We call on the Coalition to have the guts to put out the details of what they are proposing.”

September 23, 2024 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Peter Dutton’s weird obsession with uncosted nuclear risks energy security, the economy and our kids’ future.

Climate Council 23 SEP, 2024

PETER DUTTON’S WEIRD NUCLEAR OBSESSION is a reckless distraction that will delay real cuts to climate pollution and expose Australians to even more dangerous climate change. While Dutton clings to outdated ideas, our kids’ futures hang in the balance.

Despite Peter Dutton’s grand claims, the Coalition has failed to produce any new numbers to back their nuclear obsession. Meanwhile, a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reveals the true cost of nuclear: an average increase of $665 per year on household electricity bills. Nuclear power is slow, costly, and dangerous, while clean energy solutions, like wind and solar backed by storage, are already powering Australia today.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: “Peter Dutton’s weird nuclear obsession is a distraction from the fact that he wants to delay building new power for a generation.  A child riding their bike to primary school today will be driving to work by the time even one nuclear reactor is producing electricity.

“Delaying building new energy means more dangerous climate pollution from coal and gas. This will hit our kids hard, fuelling worse floods, fires, and heatwaves.

“Delaying means our ageing energy system failing without investment and support.”

Greg Bourne, Climate Councillor said: “Peter Dutton’s nuclear obsession doesn’t pass the pub test and would meet just a fraction of Australia’s energy needs by 2050. The cost blowouts, delays, and energy shortages nuclear power would cause are staggering. Renewables are faster, cheaper, and cleaner.


“While nuclear sits at the starting blocks for another decade or more, renewable energy is surging ahead, already providing 40% of the electricity in our main national grid and set to reach over 96% by the time Dutton’s first reactors might be operational. Dutton and his colleagues will be long retired before a single nuclear plant is built in Australia, whereas the renewable solutions we need are ready today.

Dutton’s refusal to provide any analysis, costs or modelling proves what we already know – nuclear is a high-risk, low-reward scheme. Nuclear power will not bring down energy bills or solve Australia’s energy challenges. This obsession will only stall the progress we desperately need to safeguard our planet and our kids’ futures.”

September 23, 2024 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment