Yes in my backyard: Nationals happy to go nuclear
By Mike Foley and James Massola
Nationals leader David Littleproud has declared he is open to having a nuclear power plant in his Queensland electorate, as the Coalition pushes a new plan to convert Australia’s existing fleet of coal plants to the controversial source of electricity generation.
Coalition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien said on Wednesday nuclear energy was a crucial emissions-reduction technology. He called for a national discussion about ending Australia’s moratorium, and argued that existing coal plants could be supplanted with the developing nuclear technology of small modular reactors.
Cooling towers at a nuclear power facility in France.Credit: Bloomberg
Federal parliament banned nuclear power in 1998, and the moratorium has remained in place with bipartisan support.
“I would support a process to explore small-scale modular reactor technology in my electorate with appropriate consultation and education of the community if a moratorium was removed,” Littleproud said.
The Maranoa MP, whose electorate sprawls across western Queensland, was joined by two Nationals colleagues in supporting nuclear in their patch.
Michelle Landry, who represents Capricornia in Queensland, said she would support a coal-to-nuclear transition in her electorate at a “coal-fired power station that is no longer being used”.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has declared he is open to having a nuclear power plant in his Queensland electorate.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Former leader Barnaby Joyce, whose electorate of New England in northern NSW does not have coal plants, emphatically backed developing the technology in his electorate.
O’Brien, however, would not be drawn on his position on a nuclear power plant in his Sunshine Coast electorate of Fairfax. He said a selection of nuclear locations could be addressed if the moratorium was lifted.
“If we end up with a clean energy policy that includes zero-emissions nuclear energy, a cheap NIMBY [not-in-my-backyard] campaign will inevitably come and we’ll deal with those sort of childish debates then,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said small modular reactors would be key to a nuclear energy policy. The developing technology is a fraction of the size of a traditional nuclear plant, and would potentially generate about one-third of the power – spurring estimates Australia would need about 80 of them to run the east coast energy grid.
CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator’s GenCost report into the cost of electricity generation based on technology type found that an energy grid running on 90 per cent renewables, including transmission lines and back-up battery or gas power, would cost between $70 to $100 a megawatt hour in 2030.
Small modular reactors would cost between $200 and $350 a megawatt hour, were that technology available by 2030.
Former chief scientist of Australia Alan Finkel, writing in the Financial Review this week, said it was unlikely small modular reactors could be deployed before 2040 in Australia, which meant “we must continue our investment in renewables”.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has rejected the deployment of nuclear power and on Wednesday reiterated the Albanese government’s goal to cut power bills by supplying 82 per cent of electricity through renewable energy by 2030.
“We look forward to the costings and the locations of the nuclear power stations when [O’Brien] releases them. I’ve been a bit confused about why a party claiming to be economically rational would propose the most expensive form of energy as a way to reduce prices,” Bowen told parliament.
On Wednesday, Bowen announced energy rule changes to force companies building transmission lines to engage in earlier and more frequent “genuine” community consultation. The move is designed to reduce community opposition, which is now the main obstacle to the government’s goal to decarbonise the electricity grid.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has backed the coal-to-nuclear plan and Canning MP Andrew Hastie said small modular reactors should be considered as replacement for coal plants given “we already have four to five small modular reactors on order” to power Australia’s next generation of nuclear submarines.
When asked if he backed nuclear in his northern NSW electorate, Joyce said: “Not only would I be happy to have a small modular reactor in New England, but I suggested the policy to accompany it.”
Joyce said he would “much prefer that than trashing our land and environment with tens of thousands of acres of transmission lines, wind factories and solar factories”.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen says nuclear power is the most expensive form of energy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Nationals MP Llew O’Brien, who represents Wide Bay in Queensland, said “any future nuclear energy plan would need to be judged on its merits”, but that he supported a discussion about the potential for his electorate.
Darren Chester and Colin Boyce – Nationals MPs with coal plants in their respective electorates – were contacted for comment, as were Labor MPs Dan Repacholi and Pat Conroy.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, Liberal senator James Paterson and Liberal MPs Warren Entsch, Tony Pasin, and Rowan Ramsey, who all said in 2017 that nuclear power should be part of the energy debate, were also contacted for comment.
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