Anti-nuke ‘dinosaurs’ put Australia on ‘pathway to lights out’: Dutton

As the UK promises to pump billions into its nuclear program, Peter Dutton warns Labor’s insistence on renewables only will leave Australia sitting in the dark.

Peter Dutton has accused the Albanese government of putting the country on a “pathway to lights out” and “prioritising the interests of Labor’s political dinosaurs” over the national interest with its continued opposition to nuclear power.

His comments came amid reports that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was preparing to invest nearly $40 billion to bolster the UK’s nuclear power capabilities and pick up the slack from intermittent offshore wind and solar projects.

“Over 30 countries around the world, including some of Australia’s closest friends and allies, already use nuclear technologies to provide reliable, affordable, zero emissions energy,” Mr Dutton said.

“The Labor Party is alone in its outdated, ideology driven opposition to nuclear technology … the government’s renewables only policies have us on a pathway to see the lights go out.”

“When it comes to the zero emissions nuclear energy debate, the Prime Minister is prioritising the interests of Labor’s political dinosaurs ahead of our national interest.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Nuclear advocate and former ANSTO chief executive Dr Adi Paterson said that if Australia is to make the clean energy transition nuclear power has to be part of the mix, even if it took time to develop.

“It does take ten years for 1 GW scale plants - however it works as in countries like the UAE, which had a strategy adopt and construct the best reactor design in the world – it has worked as planned.” The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project in Ontario, Canada has a 4-year construction plan.

An artist’s impression of a NuScale small modular reactor. Source: NuScale.

Dr Paterson said that while nuclear upfront costs appear expensive, it cost less far less to get predicable power to consumers from SMRS on established sites than far away renewable energy projects.

“One third of the cost of every electron is the cost of the grid, so if you increase grid size, cost and complexity as these remote renewables projects will, you will never get an economically viable electricity bill to mums and dads, small businesses and hospitals.”

“The universal law is: if you don’t have a predicable high-density source of primary electrons (such as nuclear) you cannot have cheap energy.”Energy economist Stephen Wilson, who in 2021 mapped out the process for having nuclear power plants operating in Australia in the next decade, said that low cost investment could be made now to get the country ready for the technology.

Chris Bowen during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Repeal the ban, put in place laws to support a civilian nuclear industry, and develop supporting systems in skills and training, get all that ready now,” Mr Wilson said.

“And at the centre of this is a process of engaging the whole of society and bringing them along for the journey.”

Robert Parker, head of Nuclear for Climate Australia, said “No nation has achieved ultra-low emissions with wind and solar and all who have tried rely on their neighbours for backup. Australia does not have that luxury.”

“If you really care about limiting climate change, ensuring sustainable energy systems and future economic prosperity you would be campaigning for nuclear energy.”

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Picture: AFP

However, a spokesman for energy minister Chris Bowen disagreed, saying: “Nuclear is extremely slow to build and impossibly expensive, up to five times more expensive than firmed renewables.”

“We had 10 years of denial and delay from the Coalition and their hatred of renewable energy, and now we have an attempt at distraction.

“Australia’s future is a renewable energy superpower, not a nuclear backwater.”