Coalition backs BHP nuclear push, Labor rejects nuclear option

Coalition backs BHP push for Labor to remove prohibitions on nuclear energy, as Chris Bowen rejects nuclear option.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says “it’s not just that nuclear is more expensive, it’s that costs are actually going up”.

Opposition energy and climate change spokesman Ted O’Brien says global businesses will shift ­investment away from Australia unless the nation embraces the potential of zero-emissions ­nuclear technologies.

In response to mining giant BHP’s pre-budget push for the government to remove prohibitions on nuclear energy, Mr O’Brien said Australia’s industrial and resources sectors that are desperately seeking to reduce emissions cannot be “ignored”.

“While BHP is Australian born, it brings a global perspective and is uniquely positioned to ­reflect on the most cost-effective and efficient technology options to reduce industrial emissions,” Mr O’Brien told The Australian.

“BHP makes it clear that ­global businesses are looking at Australia’s ‘unnecessary restrictions’ on zero-emissions nuclear energy as an inhibitor to innovation, investment and efficiency. The stark reality is that capital is fluid and moves around the world in search of better market conditions.”

In his post-budget reply speech last month, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton put nuclear power and gas at the heart of the Coalition’s future energy blueprint.

Mr Dutton’s push to consider small modular reactors as part of the energy mix was immediately rejected by Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen.

Mr Bowen on Wednesday warned that “it’s not just that ­nuclear is more expensive, it’s that costs are actually going up”.

“The construction of nuclear power plants around the world are facing huge delays and cost overruns, which will further drive energy costs up for consumers. Meanwhile renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy and getting cheaper,” Mr Bowen told The Australian.

“Australia would have no new energy coming online for over a decade while we sit around and wait for a new nuclear industry to be established and, at a cost that nuclear advocates have put at around $10bn per SMR, we’d need to spend $800bn to construct the 80 SMRs required to provide enough energy to power Australia.”

Opposition energy and climate change spokesman Ted O'Brien says it’s “no surprise that businesses are looking around the world at the role of zero-emissions nuclear energy in driving deep cuts to industrial emissions”. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

Mr Dutton is expected to ­develop gas and nuclear policies ahead of the 2025 election, pitting the Coalition’s energy plan against Anthony Albanese’s ­“renewables revolution”.

With high inflation driving up interest rates and Australians copping record energy bills, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday said the government must implement an “affordable, reliable” plan.

“The policies they have on energy are not the policies we had, or would have,” Ms Ley said.

Mr O’Brien said many Australian businesses are “committed to reducing emissions, but are desperate for practical solutions that are cost-effective”.

“It’s no surprise that businesses are looking around the world at the role of zero-emissions nuclear energy in driving deep cuts to industrial emissions and wanting the same opportunity here in Australia,” he said.

Queensland Nationals senator and former resources minister Matt Canavan said he supported BHP for trying to “talk sense” to the government about removing barriers to nuclear energy.