IF the Coalition secures victory at the next Federal election, tens of thousands of Australians across five states could find themselves living near nuclear plants.
Last week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton unveiled his highly anticipated nuclear energy policy, which aims to establish nuclear power facilities in regions that once thrived off fossil fuels.
While we won’t see a nuclear plant located in the Goulburn Valley, Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell supports the plan and said modern nuclear technology is an important component to a credible pathway to net zero by 2050, and important to support local industries.
“The target of net zero by 2050 is important and Australia must play its role, but we also need to ensure we have cheap and reliable energy to power our industries, strengthen our economy and secure jobs for the future,” Mr Birrell said. “Nicholls is a processing and manufacturing powerhouse, but it was built on having access to cheap and reliable power, something the all-renewables path being pursued by the Albanese government cannot deliver.”
Mr Birrell said nuclear will replace the baseload power currently provided by coal, eliminating the emissions but retaining the strength of our supply network. He said modern nuclear power plants with the latest technology are incredibly safe and will connect directly to existing poles and wires.
“Labor’s renewables rollout risks major damage to rural environments with an additional 28,000 kilometres of power lines and a proliferation of large-scale solar and wind projects,” he said. “Renewables must be a part of our energy mix but for every megawatt hour of electricity produced wind requires 360 times more land and solar 75 times more land than nuclear.
“By reducing impacts on our landscape, zero emissions nuclear will not only protect regional communities, but our environment and wildlife.”
Nuclear plants have a typical lifespan of 80-100 years while solar and wind need to be replaced around every 20 years.
“The renewable energy replacement cost, and recycling or disposal of millions of tonnes solar and wind waste will factor into future energy costs,” Mr Birrell said.
“Of course, there are many issues to work through in relation to cost, safety and design. But big thinking to resolve big problems requires our nation to engage in a mature discussion – and I am disappointed that so far that is not what I have seen from a number of Labor MPs.”
