The Coalition's nuclear policy announcement comes with a massive price tag but is also built on disinformation, writesSteve Bishop.

A $20 BILLION deficit and cheap lies mean that Opposition LeaderPeter Dutton's attempt toextend the lifeof coal-fired power plants with a nuclearfixhas come spectacularly unstuck.

Dutton and the Coalition stand condemned for presenting the public with a shoddy, ill-preparedpolicyon a multi-billion dollar project that theClimate Councilwarns could risk power shortages in the 2030s.

On 13 December last year, Mr Duttonpromised:

Yet the Coalition's costings report, released on the same day, repeatedly deals with only13 GW.

That's 1,000 MW short of the target.

Dutton's nuclear policy is a Coalition scam

Overwhelming evidence is proving the Coalition's nuclear plan to be a scam.

Three small modular reactors (SMRs) producing 345 MW each would be needed to make up the shortfall at a cost of almost $20 billion based on theUS$4 billion(AU$6.2 billion) price of Opposition energy spokesmanTed O'Brien's favoured Natriumreactor.

Just to put this critical mess in focus that's twenty thousand million dollars. It makes a mockery of Dutton'sclaimthat the Liberal Party has always been a better economic manager...

And then come the cheap lies.

Mr Duttonclaims:

No, it's not a fact. It is a lie.

Ted O'Brien hasrepeatedlytalked aboutOntarioas havingcheap powerbecause it has nuclear reactors.

But Quebec's electricity prices arefar cheaperthan Ontario's. Quebecclosedits only nuclear power plant in 2012.

Not only that, but Quebec's power companypaid the provincial governmentadividendof $2.5 billion in 2023/24.

On the other hand, the Ontario Government payssubsidiesof up to $720 a year to families of four earning less than $65,000 a year.

Dutton's atomic power bill for a 'nuclear family' could be nearly $39K

The Dutton nuclear power plan will cost about $264 billion if the type of reactor extolled by Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien is adopted.

Coalition frontbencherDan Tehansays nuclear power contributes tolow power pricesin Tennessee butElectric Choiceshows that this monthIdaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Utah all have lower power prices and none of them has nuclear power,

DuttonclaimsAustralian families at the moment are paying some of the highest energy costs in the world and they would enjoymassive savingsif we had nuclear power.

The Opposition Leader also says it's a fact that countries such as the UK and France, with their nuclear power, havecheaper powerprices than Australia.

Here's the lie exposed again. It's a complete meltdown. According toStatista, power prices in the UK and France are more expensive than in Australia.

Here's another lie.

Mr Duttonasserts:

Sloveniahas a nuclear power plant but is one of themost expensiveproviders in Europe withSwitzerland's nuclear powerpricesnot far behind.

Slovakiagenerates half its power from nuclear plants but power prices are more than twice whatNorwegians, withno nuclear power, pay.

Then Dutton has thechutzpahto accuse the Government of lying when it points out that nuclear power is the most expensive type of energy.

Dutton's nuclear report hides true cost to taxpayers

The Opposition's costings for its nuclear power plan contain no estimate of the millions of dollars each one could cost taxpayers.

In the 2021 edition of its annual cost report, Wall Street firmLazardestimated that the levelised cost of electricity from new nuclear plants will be$131204 per megawatt-hour(MWh), whereas newly constructed utility-scale solar and wind plants produce electricity at somewhere between $2650MWh.

An independent report commissioned by theClean Energy Counciland conducted byEgis, a leading global consulting, construction and engineering firm, has confirmed that nuclear energy is up to six times more expensive than renewable energy.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found nuclear power in Australia could result in electricity bills rising by $665 a year on average

And the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) hasfound:

No wonder that Coalition whistleblower SenatorMatt Canavanrevealed the nuclear policy is no more than afix. It doesn't even deserve a half-life.

Steve Bishopis a journalist and author. You can read more fromSteveatstevebishop.net.

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