Building nuclear reactors on existing coal power sites would...

Building nuclear reactors on existing coal power sites would save about 35% of construction costs plus the power grids are there also.
Construction time would be reduced also. In the UAE they are building them in about 9 years.

So far the UAE has only three reactors, which finished construction between 2020 and 2022. Each took a little over 8 years to build, while a fourth reactor will be connected to the grid imminently, with its construction time currently running at a little over 8.5 years.

Professor Buongiorno called these timelines a "great success" but said nuclear power faced little public opposition in the UAE "due to the high level of trust the Emirati government enjoys with its citizens".

Importantly, these examples do not include time for planning or for changing regulations to allow construction to proceed.

Professor Buongiorno said that to construct nuclear reactors, Australia would need to beef up its existing regulatory structure for nuclear research and other non-energy nuclear activities.

"Given the existing capabilities, this could/should take 1-2 years and proceed in parallel with construction project planning," he wrote in an email.