The Coalition has brushed aside the CSIRO’s latest unflattering appraisal of its nuclear power plans, saying it fails to detail the comparative cost of Labor’s renewable rollout, still contains flawed assumptions and was timed to inflict political damage, not inform the public.

With the Coalition vowing to release this week the long-awaited costings for its proposal to build seven nuclear power stations, the CSIRO’s draft GenCost report, which was rejigged to accommodate criticisms of its May document, insists nuclear power would still cost up to twice as much as renewable energy and be slow to come online.