On Wednesday, 19 June 2024 the Leader of the Coalition Opposition & Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Dutton (Qld) held a joint press conference with Leader of the National Party & MP for Maranoa David Littleproud (Qld), Liberal MP for Farrer Sussan Ley (NSW), Liberal MP for Hume Angus Taylor (NSW) and Liberal MP for Fairfax Ted O'Brien (Qld).
These representatives of their parties have sat in the Australian Parliament for approximately the last 22, 7, 22,10 and 7 years respectively.
From that Wednesday press conference an est. 10,047 word transcript was produced which alleges to outline a Coalition policy on nuclear power as part of Australia's energy mix, with 7 nuclear power plants to be constructed in the vicinities of Tarong and Callide in Queensland, Blackmans Creek and Mount Piper in NSW, Traralgon in Victoria, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.
All 7 of these projected sites according to Dutton & Co are to be compulsorily acquired from the existing owners on behalf of the Commonwealth and it is anticipated that the nuclear build will begin sometime in the next 10 years (before 2035) and the first two nuclear power plants will be complete in the next 11 to 12 years (2035-37) with the remaining five being completed by sometime in the 2040s.
When it comes to the projected cost of the build no estimation is given other than "it will be a big bill, there’s no question about that".
However the CSIRO GenCost 2023-24 report calculates a 7 large-scale power plant build as costing up to $85 billion in today's dollars, with the first nuclear power plant completed at est. cost of up to $17 billion. While a small scale SMR nuclear power plant (as yet commercially unrealised) has a tentative est. build of somewhere between $5.1 and $9.3 billion. A total cost for 7 small scale plants being between est. $ 35.7 to $65.1 billion in today's dollars.
The Australian Energy Council, peak industry body for electricity and downstream natural gas businesses operating in the competitive wholesale and retail energy markets, is not critical of CSIRO's timetables and costings.
The CSIRO GenCost 2023-24 final report also indicates an estimate of total build years to completion for 7 large-scale nuclear power plants as 40.6 years - with a most optimistic completion date in 2064-2065 if construction commenced immediately. While the report also states estimated total build years to completion for 7 small-scale nuclear power plants is 30.6 years - with a most optimistic completion date in 2054-2055 if construction commenced immediately.
In the joint press release transcript it states: "we’ve looked at water" as part of the basis of making the announcement of Coalition intentions to build those seven nuclear power plants if elected to govern in 2025.
However that brief mention did not qualify or quantify nuclear power production water needs, which according to a nuclear power-neutral Smart Water Magazine quote:
one nuclear reactor requires between 1,514L and 2,725L litres of water per MWh. It equates to billions of gallons of water per year, and all this water requires filtering somehow.
This would see Queensland & New South Wales required to each find an additional est. 27,786 megalitres of water per annum and Victoria, South Australia & West Australia each required to find an additional est. 13,893 megalitres per annum.
To put that into some perspective two nuclear power plants operating for one year in NSW would require the equivalent of 557 years of Clarence River average water discharge into the sea.
Further, in the joint press release, this quartet of Coalition politician also appear to be asserting that an Australian nuclear power industry will supply "cheaper" electricity.
The Australian Energy Council states:
Australian retail household electricity prices in the National Electricity Market (NEM) are the lowest they have been for eight years, and on an international comparison are the 10th lowest of the 38 OECD countries. The average cost per unit of electricity has fallen to 27 cents/kWh according to the most recent Australian Competition and Consumer National Electricity Market (NEM) data. When compared against other countries using a purchasing power exchange rate, Australian average prices per kilowatt-hour are equivalent to 17.6 US cents (c/kWh), well below the OECD average cost of 24.2 US c/kWh and less than many European countries.
World Nuclear Association graph, 30.04.24. Click on image to enlarge
According to the World Nuclear Association in 2024 there are nuclear power reactors operating in 32 countries plus Taiwan.
Looking at the graph of 58 countries above, 5 of the 15 countries with the highest household electricity prices were countries with nuclear power in the mix.
The Czech Republic operating 6 nuclear reactors has the second highest household electricity price, Belgium operating 5 nuclear reactors the 7th highest, Spain with 7 nuclear reactors the 10th highest, Slovenia sharing 1 nuclear reactor the 12th highest and the United Kingdom operating 9 nuclear reactors the 14th highest.
The full transcript of the 17 June 2024 joint press release can be read at:
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