Australia’s fractious debate about how to achieve its energy transition ambitions in its electricity sector has become even more muddled by the release of the costings of the Coalition’s nuclear plan. And that’s no help to households and businesses.

Any hope of a rational debate about the merits of including nuclear power in the country’s future energy mix to support decarbonisation goals – something broadly supported by industry struggling to source reliable, affordable, low-carbon power – had already disappeared before Friday.