@tonymc - "nuclear as the intermittent backup for base load...

@tonymc - "nuclear as the intermittent backup for base load renewables" - seriously! Firstly, I think the term 'base load renewables' is an oxymoron, and secondly, I can only assume you are talking about modularised nuclear power plants and not on the scale that we really need for long term, reliable, cost effective power supply capable of 'seriously' supporting industry in this country. Sounds like you've drunk the Mango's Kool-aid and I wonder when the politicians are going to get out of the way and let the serious people design a realistic energy strategy for this country for the next 50+ years, and not just ride on the coat-tails of every other crack-pot politician who still believes CO2 drives warming and also believes solar and wind will be the future because their idea of reliable power is being able to run their coffee machine. We are a lucky country blessed with all of the natural resources to provide us with clean, cost-efficient, reliable, energy supplies for generations to come (nuclear, gas, hydro, and yes I said it - coal, 'supplemented' by solar, wind, etc. in more remote regions where real estate is less of a problem. Over the course of the last 40 years we have gone from being a country with very affordable power in almost every state/territory to a basket case where average families now have to worry about their power bill and it all comes down to successive governments making dumb, politically motivated decisions with short time horizons (including privatising the bulk of the nations energy infrastructure). Bowen and the Greens are now taking us on a very expensive taxpayer funded path to failure that will be very hard to recover from when it becomes obvious that they were WRONG - as you can see, you hit a raw nerve