Back in political news, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been talking about the Coalition's nuclear power plans.
He was questioned at Nine's Today program on CSIRO estimates that a full-scale nuclear reactor would cost $8.5 billion and take more than a decade.
Dutton said he wanted to believe that battery power could provide baseload, but “it just can't,” and that wind and solar power were intermittent.
“So that needs to be consolidated. And as we know at the moment, the Labor governments in Victoria and NSW are extending the lives of coal-fired power stations because they're worried about the lights going out.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has defended the nuclear plans.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The comments come after the NSW Government reached an agreement to extend the life of Eraring Power Station.
“We need to get serious about a new energy system as we decarbonize and modernize, and nuclear is a key part of that,” Dutton said.
The Opposition Leader pointed to the Canadian province of Ontario, saying it has 60 percent of its nuclear power and energy prices were a quarter of what was paid in Australia.
But Labor Minister Bill Shorten, who also appeared on the show, said he did not believe nuclear power was a viable option for Australia and would cost too much and take too long.
“It will be about 15 years, $8.5 billion, which will cost twice as much as renewables,” he said.
Mr Shorten said it was not true to say 19 of the 20 G20 countries used nuclear power, arguing that while Germany was moving away from it, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia did not.
“The truth is, if we had nuclear power, that was a conversation for the 1960s, not the 2020s,” he said.
“We have an opportunity to invest in our renewables and use gas as a baseload transition until we get there.”
