Anthony Albanese urged to rethink nuclear option

Senior ALP figures and unions are urging Anthony Albanese to reconsider his opposition to nuclear power.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese in question time on Monday. Picture: AAP

Nuclear energy options will be canvassed in the Morrison government’s technology investment plan, amplifying pressure from senior ALP figures and unions for Anthony Albanese to reconsider his opposition to nuclear in support of Labor’s zero net emissions target.

The Australian understands the technology investment blueprint, a key plank of Scott Morrison’s pledge to drive down emissions, has assessed the ­viability of small modular nuclear reactors through its review of more than 100 new technologies.

Developments in nuclear energy technology, which is being pursued by the US, Britain and Canada, has been examined as a post-2030 path but remained an expensive option in the current domestic market.

With the government stating it would consider nuclear options only through a bipartisan ­approach, former Victorian Labor energy minister Theo Theophanous and the right-aligned John Curtin Research Centre have supported pursuing the potential of “small modular reactors”.

The Australian Workers Union and CFMEU Victorian branch have also strongly supported the use of nuclear energy technology to help drive down emissions and protect jobs.

Mr Theophanous, who spent two decades in the Victorian parliament, said Labor needed to shift its blanket opposition of nuclear energy. Writing in The Tocsin, published by the Curtin research centre, Mr Theophanous said the reaction of the Labor leadership in opposing a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy was “an extraordinary overreaction that fails to address the fundamental problem … that renewables with full back-up are a very expensive if not an unachievable objective”.

“More than that, the response displayed an almost antediluvian attitude to new technology, dismissing the potential for small modular reactors which are in advanced stages of development in the US, Canada, Europe and China,” he said.

Ahead of a Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday, some opposition MPs are believed to have been disappointed that Mr Albanese’s zero net emissions by 2050 target was unveiled so quickly after last year’s election.

Curtin executive director Nick Dyrenfurth said while it had an “agnostic position on nuclear power” all options “must be on the table”.

“If we are facing a climate change emergency and are serious about achieving net zero emissions, creating secure, well-paying white and blue collar jobs, and ­diversifying our nation’s energy needs, all options must be on the table, including the potential of small modular reactors,” Dr Dyrenfurth said.

In its submission to the parliamentary nuclear energy inquiry, the AWU made five recommendations, including taking “immediate steps to consider the role that ­nuclear can play in the Australian energy market and emissions ­reduction targets on both a 2030 and 2050 basis”.

The AWU also called for the Department of Industry to ­develop a scoping study assessing the economic, environmental and regional benefits to Australia of a “fully-realised, total nuclear life-cycle industry”.

The union said it was time to acknowledge that nuclear energy is the most “viable technological proposition that can satisfy Australia’s twin needs of competitively providing baseload energy while reducing the overall carbon footprint of the economy”.

The Victorian CFMEU has also backed “clean” coal-fired power stations and nuclear energy ­options over renewables, saying the transitioning of coal-fired power station workers and their communities towards a modern nuclear power industry was achievable.

Mr Theophanous said despite a small number of high-profile incidents, “nuclear is still one of the safest fuels compared even to wind and solar”. “Nuclear waste management, too, has experienced major advancements. Even though Australia has not taken up what is a moral, economic and intellectual obligation to assist the world in storage, we have been involved for many years on the research and development front,” he said.

Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen said on the weekend that the “economics of nuclear power don’t stack up”.

“I mean, you could start building a nuclear power station today, and it wouldn’t be ready for decades. The idea that this is part of the mix for Australia’s response to global warming is a fantasy and a furphy,” he said.