The federal opposition is set to announce the locations of up to seven proposed nuclear power sites in a matter of weeks, with two of the sites to be in Liberal-held seats and either four or five sites in Nationals-held seats.
All of these sites currently host either coal or gas-fired power stations.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton dismissed the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, which found that the first large scale nuclear reactor in Australia would cost more than $16 billion and would not come on line before 2040.
The GenCost report factored in $40 billion worth of transmission lines as well as batteries by 2030 and still found an electricity network that was 80 per cent powered by renewables would provide cheaper power than gas, coal or nuclear power.
