Exploring a nuclear power future

Tentative discussions within the Morrison cabinet about developing a nuclear power industry in Australia should be firmed up into a comprehensive, costed proposal. As Dennis Shanahan reported on Wednesday, discussions among Liberal and Nationals ministers involve the possibility of lifting the moratorium on nuclear energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions and replace reliance on fossil fuels. The idea makes sense environmentally. In 2019, the International Energy Agency reported that nuclear and hydro power provided three-quarters of global low-carbon generation. Over the past 50 years, the IEA said, the use of nuclear power had reduced CO2 emissions by more than 60 gigatonnes – nearly two years’ worth of global energy-related emissions. In 2020, nuclear reactors in 31 countries saved 2.2 billion tonnes of global carbon emissions.

Until now, the option of the Coalition adopting a policy of future nuclear energy was considered too risky without bipartisan support from the ALP. Scott Morrison said as much before he headed to the G7 in Cornwall. But it is time to nudge the issue along and engage in some long-term decision-making. As Coalition MPs on a parliamentary committee tasked to look at the future of nuclear power said in 2019: “Australia should be strategic in its consideration of nuclear energy. This requires us to think about the next 50 years rather than the next five, and also how we might enter the nuclear energy industry by learning from other countries while building our own sovereign capability.” Such an industry, arguably, should have been initiated decades ago.

A nuclear capability is not part of Australia’s defence planning. But as Greg Sheridan wrote three months ago: “The best long-range subs are nuclear-powered but there is no prospect at all, none, that we could get nuclear subs without a nuclear industry. No country that has nuclear subs does not have some nuclear industry.’’

Capital costs would be an important consideration. Our uranium deposits, some of the largest in the world, would give an Australian industry a head start. But many studies suggest that producing nuclear energy is more expensive than gas, though cheaper than many renewable energy costs.

Uranium exports added $688m to the economy in 2019-20, with 290TWh of zero-emissions electricity generated by Australia’s uranium exports, the Minerals Council of Australia says. The MCA also estimates exported uranium could generate “109 per cent” of our domestic electricity.

It’s time to examine the cost benefits.