Energy Minister Chris Bowen has invented more excuses for keeping nuclear power banned in Australia

Chris Bowen has beclowned himself with yet another ridiculous argument on nuclear power.

Chris Bowen’s attack on Sunday on the federal Opposition’s nuclear power plan is so stupid that he’s confirmed he really is the Albanese Government’s most dangerous minister.

The Opposition wants to scrap Australia’s idiotic ban on nuclear power, but letting investors sort out whether they can make nuclear pay is too much freedom for Bowen, our energy minister.

“The market hasn’t sorted it out in any other country in the world,” he protested on the ABC’s Insiders.

False. There are now about 450 nuclear reactors in 30 countries, supplying 10 per cent of the world’s electricity, and with zero emissions. Bowen, also our Climate Change Minister, should be cheering.

Chris Bowen said ‘the market hasn’t sorted it out in any other country in the world’. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Instead, he invented more excuses for keeping nuclear power banned in Australia.

“Every country in the world with nuclear has required massive transfers of taxpayer wealth to the nuclear constructors,” he claimed.

Well, if “transfers of taxpayers’ wealth” is a sin, let’s ban wind and solar power.

That scam industry transfers billions of dollars from the poor to the rich, including subsidies for solar panels.

But Bowen beclowned himself with yet another ridiculous argument. One British nuclear power plant, the Hinkley Point C, was “very late and has come in at $86 billion”, way over budget.

Again, if coming in late and expensive is a crime, arrest Bowen now.

Construction of the British nuclear power plant, the Hinkley Point C. Picture: AFP

Which of his renewables projects hasn’t done that? For instance, his rollout of 28,000km of transmission lines to hook up all his planned wind and solar plants (estimated cost: $80 billion) is way behind schedule, and his Snowy 2.0 scheme to store green energy is already 10 times its promised price.

As for Hinkley, its builder says the price blowout was caused in part by 700 government changes to its design, and consumers won’t pay more because the electricity prices are fixed.

Then came Bowen’s final, flabby argument: “Australia has the best renewable resources in the world,” presumably meaning we have lots of sun and wind, and other countries, er, don’t.

“It would be a massive economic own goal to give up utilising those resources.”

But if he’s crying over wasted resources, Bowen should howl about our uranium, the world’s biggest reserves.

What a waste. We shipped more than $800 million of uranium to other countries last year but can’t use one atom for our own emissions-free electricity.

If it’s up to Bowen we never will. Why is this man in charge of our electricity?

Originally published as Energy Minister Chris Bowen has invented more excuses for keeping nuclear power banned in Australia