Nuclear energy is a win-win for us and the planet

Artist's impression of a small modular reactor.

Small modular reactors of less than 300MW capacity do not require the grid expansion that is planned under the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan, which maps out the details of the nation’s energy transition to a decarbonised grid.

It is a huge, complicated, expensive process when any grid is dominated by renewables and ­introduces huge reliability risk and rising costs.

SMRs could be installed into our current grid as a “plug and play” replacement for retiring coal and gas plants, saving billions of dollars. They would also deliver increased grid-generating capacity and inertia, stability, reliability and reduced costs to consumers. Like all nuclear generation, SMRs have incredibly low carbon emissions, as good or better than wind and solar. Our economy will not be dependent on the weather or on solar panels and wind turbines, 95 per cent of which are made offshore.

Having a civil nuclear industry would increase our sovereign independence with additional long-term benefits to the AUKUS initiatives.

To arrive at full life-cycle cost comparisons between a renewables-predominant system to one with nuclear, you must also account for the very short lifespan of solar panels, wind turbines and batteries, which will need replacement four times over the 60 to 80-year lifespan of well-maintained modern nuclear plants.

The new Generation III+ SMRs have a design life of 60 years, but this can be extended to 80 years with midlife refurbishments, as Canada has done. SMRs by design have a 90 per cent reduced geographical footprint compared with conventional nuclear plants, and have 50 per cent less material intensity. They are constructed off site using the economies of series production, not as bespoke builds, and have passive safety systems in place so that “Fukushimas” and “Chernobyls” can’t ever happen.

SMRs reflect 70 years of continuous evolution in design just like that of cars, trains, jets, computers and iPhones. They are scheduled to appear on grids in Ontario, Canada, in 2028 and 2030 in the US, not some far distant decade.

Evolution of Generation IV micro-modular reactors, ideal for remote sites, islands or mines, is also proceeding apace.

Digital cloud providers and ­industrial complexes are already turning to SMRs to secure their industrial facilities and cloud data systems. Britain, France, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Romania and Japan have announced plans for new SMRs.

Through further innovation, all of these countries have worked out how to recycle spent fuel as well as harvest valuable medical isotopes. Gen IV plants also have the ability to burn spent fuel, reducing the amount of waste fuel, while deep geological repository is an internationally established safe method of final storage. The Australian-developed and deployed Synroc process reduces the final volume of that storage even further.

Modern nuclear is cost-competitive when designs are 100 per cent complete and approved, with skilled project management and supply chains in place, before the first sod is turned. Second, it’s important to build nuclear plants as part of a series – this is at the heart of SMR design. The UAE has demonstrated how building in a series can be done in the space of 10 years and has just deployed three large reactors with a fourth to follow.

Australia is a modern advanced country that already has a nuclear capability and excellent regulatory framework. We need to wake up and stop ignoring the obvious.

We should embrace this latest generation of nuclear technology and remove the legislative prohibitions at state and federal levels.

Australia can be reassured SMRs are incredibly safe, they are as clean as wind and solar and, with the right energy mix of renewables, will deliver affordable, reliable electricity for everyone.

Dr David Gillespie is a Nationals MP, a former gastroenterologist physician and chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Nuclear Industries.