IF THE Coalition secures victory in the next Federal election, tens of thousands of Australians across five states might find themselves living near nuclear power plants.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has revealed his highly anticipated nuclear energy policy, which aims to establish nuclear power facilities in regions that once thrived on fossil fuels. The proposed plan includes constructing seven plants at existing coal-fired power station sites, all owned by the Commonwealth.
The sites earmarked for these nuclear plants are the Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria’s Gippsland region, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia, Collie in Western Australia, Mount Piper at Lithgow in central west NSW, and Liddell in NSW’s Hunter region. Contrary to earlier speculations, the former coal mine site in Anglesea did not make the list.
“We want to utilise the existing assets that we’ve got, and the poles and wires that are used at the moment on the coal-fired power station sites… to distribute the energy generated from the latest generation nuclear reactors,” Mr Dutton told reporters in Sydney today (Wednesday, June 19).
“We have the ability to do that in a way that renewables can’t.”
While Mr Dutton did not disclose the exact cost of the Coalition’s nuclear strategy, he asserted that it would be more economical than the Albanese Government’s transition plan, which he claimed would cost between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion.
“Our proposal will cost a fraction of that, we will have more to say in relation to the cost in due course and as you know we’ve done this in a step-by-step process,” said Mr Dutton.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticised the plan, arguing that it ignores Australia’s potential for renewable energy.
“It’ll be a taxpayer-funded nuclear fantasy,” he told ABC Radio. “Here in Australia, we have the best solar resources in the world.
“This makes no economic sense, as well as leaving us in a position of energy insecurity because of the time that it will take to roll out a nuclear reactor.”
