Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has unveiled a plan to build large-scale nuclear reactors at five possible sites in Australia, winning the support of pro-nuclear campaigner Dick Smith.
Ted O’Brien, the Coalition’s energy spokesman, made waves on Monday morning by highlighting the inclusion of large-scale reactors, not just small modular reactors, as part of Australia’s nuclear mix.
The Coalition shadow cabinet is reportedly considering a range of locations where nuclear power stations could be located in Australia, including the sites of major former coal-fired power stations such as Eraring and Liddell in the NSW Hunter Valley.
That plan – first revealed by Sky News – had the backing of entrepreneur Dick Smith, who has championed the cause of bringing nuclear power to Australia for the past three decades.
Smith told Daily Mail Australia he welcomed the Liberal Party’s embrace of modern nuclear technology – regardless of its scale – because renewable energy was too unreliable.
“They are on the right track,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
‘We must stop using fossil fuels and it is impossible for an entire country to run on wind and solar energy; that has never been done; Even a city could not be governed continuously.’
Dick Smith has spoken out as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton flags a nuclear energy policy involving large-scale reactors
Mr Smith, who turns 80 in less than a fortnight, has been an advocate for small modular reactors, which do not yet exist anywhere in the world as an answer to zero-emissions energy.
Companies including Rolls Royce have developed SMR technology, in which small nuclear power plants the size of shipping containers are built in factories and transported to a specific location.
His favorite model for Australia is the Barakah nuclear reactor in the United Arab Emirates, which has been operational since 2020, with Korean technology.
This is a large-scale reactor built in just six years and Mr Smith has proposed doing this in old coal-fired power stations.
“It’s very well established that the South Koreans are very adept at building nuclear reactors,” Smith said.
“My suggestion is that we should just replace our coal-fired power stations and let the South Koreans build what they have been doing in the UAE.”
Mr Smith also proposed storing nuclear waste at the Olympic Dam in South Australia, which is also home to a uranium mine.
Mr Smith, who turns 80 in less than two weeks, is an advocate of small modular reactors, which do not yet exist anywhere in the world. People like Rolls Royce have developed SMR technology
Energy spokesman O’Brien told the ABC Prime Minister’s Program on Monday afternoon that the coalition was agnostic on nuclear technology.
“Keep in mind that our energy policy will not focus on one technology,” he said.
‘Unlike the Labor Party, we are taking a whole of the above approach, where all technologies must be given due consideration and brought to the table.’
He told The Australian: “Any coal-to-nuclear strategy must take into account different types of new and emerging nuclear technologies, from advanced microreactors to small modular reactors and large next-generation reactors.”
Mr O’Brien also failed to challenge the ABC’s claim that solar and wind energy are proven technologies, despite the fact that renewable energy will meet only 32 per cent of Australia’s energy needs in 2022 due to variable weather conditions, transmission and energy storage problems.
“Again, we learn from other countries: nuclear energy is an important part of the mix,” he said.
Mr O’Brien could also face opposition within the Coalition’s joint party chamber, with David Gillespie, the chairman of the Parliamentary Friends of Nuclear Industries, favoring small modular reactors.
Dr. Gillespie favors the idea of SMRs that could be plugged into the grid as coal-fired power plants retire.
Both sides of politics support net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but the coalition is skeptical about relying entirely on renewable energy such as coal and natural gas, as they have been phased out.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said nuclear power is an expensive option.
“His proposal will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, take decades to build, it is more expensive, it will take longer and it is a divisive option,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“So if he wants to build large-scale nuclear reactors in our country, he should tell us where they are going when he is in government.
His preferred model for Australia is the small Barakah modular response in the United Arab Emirates, which has been operational since 2020, with Korean technology.
“I think most Australians recognize that our future is renewable, and that is where our efforts and our focus should be.”
Fossil fuels, including coal, gas and oil, provided 68 per cent of Australia’s energy in 2022, while renewables accounted for 32 per cent of total electricity generation, data from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment shows and Water.
Australia’s nuclear medical isotopes, used for chemotherapy in cancer treatments, are manufactured at Lucas Heights in Sydney’s south, where the waste is also stored there after being reprocessed in France.
