Powering ahead: Dutton to name nuclear sites within weeks

The federal opposition is set to announce the locations of up to seven proposed nuclear power sites in a matter of weeks, with two of the sites to be in Liberal-held seats and either four or five sites in Nationals-held seats.

Possible nuclear power plant sites that have been discussed within the Coalition include the Latrobe Valley and Anglesea in Victoria, the Hunter Valley in NSW, Collie in Western Australia, Port Augusta in South Australia, and even potentially a plant in Nationals leader David Littleproud’s electorate of Maranoa in south-west Queensland.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dismissed the costs of nuclear cited in the latest report from CSIRO.Credit: Getty Images, Louis Douvos

All of these sites currently host either coal or gas-fired power stations.

This masthead has been told by a coalition MP, who asked not to be named to brief on confidential deliberations, that the much-anticipated announcement of the six or seven sites – a closely guarded secret for months – has been finalised, and a policy launch has been pencilled in to take place by early June.

That MP said technical work on the Coalition’s policy was still under way, discussions had been held with nuclear construction companies who could build the plants, and that the launch, which would include detailed costings, was imminent.

The revelation that sites are all but locked in comes after a day of mixed messages from shadow ministers including Littleproud, Angus Taylor and Jane Hume over the timing and details of a policy that will be at the heart of the Coalition’s election pitch.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton dismissed the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, which found that the first large scale nuclear reactor in Australia would cost more than $16 billion and would not come on line before 2040, while the cost of subsequent reactors would ultimately fall to about $8 billion.

Dutton questioned the credibility of the report as it was “based on the current government settings” and said it didn’t consider what he claimed was a more than trillion-dollar cost for the Albanese government’s renewables roll out.

The GenCost report factored in $40 billion worth of transmission lines as well as batteries by 2030 and still found an electricity network that was 80 per cent powered by renewables would provide cheaper power than gas, coal or nuclear power.

Asked when the Coalition would finally release its policy, Dutton said “we’ll provide that information in due course”, and added that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said there were 12 months until the next election.

Dutton refused to say where the sites would be: “I haven’t ruled out or in any sites. I’ve said that we’re looking at coal-fired power stations that are coming to an end of life.”

Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester, whose seat takes in much of the Latrobe Valley, last month spoke out to caution that his constituents would need a significant economic package if they were to host a nuclear power station.

Several MPs, who asked not to be named, expressed concern that the nuclear policy had been delayed after Dutton had flagged, back in March, that it would be released before the May federal budget.

One MP said “this is a complex policy and we will have to educate 26 million people. There will be a scare campaign from Labor and they will frame the next election as a referendum on nuclear.”

In March, 12 Coalition MPs publicly backed lifting the moratorium on nuclear power in Australia but would not commit to hosting a nuclear power plant in their own electorate.

Littleproud told Sky News on Wednesday that “we’re going to announce them, we’ve been very clear, we’ve been very honest about this, that we will get to juncture in the coming weeks”.

But Taylor told the National Press Club the opposition would release its energy policy “in the coming months”, and ruled out offering subsidies to ensure the plants are commercially viable.

Credit: Matt Golding

“I don’t want to commit to subsidies … to make sure that it is commercially viable, and we think it can be,” Taylor said.

Hume said the opposition would not be drawn on when the locations of nuclear sites would be announced, or the timing.

“We have been pretty clear that we will announce our nuclear policy when ready, on our own timetable,” she said.

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien rejected the CSIRO’s finding that nuclear reactors would generate more expensive electricity than renewables.

“I do not accept the price of electricity that I see in this report. I am yet to look at the assumptions underpinning it, but they have not disclosed the full financing cost,” O’Brien said.

Nationals leader David Littleproud and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor during question time last month.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Wednesday taunted Dutton over the delay to his energy policy.

The Albanese government is opposed to nuclear energy and has pledged to boost the share of renewables to 82 per cent of the energy mix by 2030.

“He promised it before the budget. The budget’s been and gone now,” Bowen said.

“This is time, now, for Mr Dutton to come forward on where will the nuclear sites be, where in South Australia will they be, where else in the country will they be, what the costs and what is the reliability risk, and we will await Mr Dutton’s policy with keen interest.”

Energy experts including the Grattan Institute’s Tony Wood and former chief scientist Alan Finkel say that while a rapid rollout of renewables to 90 per cent of the grid is needed over the next two decades to cut carbon emissions and limit global warming, nuclear power plants could back up supply in future decades.

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