Push for nuclear energy ignores glaring problem

Australia also has oodles of uranium so SMRs could help make us more energy-independent. In particular, it would help reduce our foreign oil dependency which renders the nation a sitting duck in case of any naval blockade.

However, in practice, there are some very big problems with SMRs.

The most pressing is that they do not currently exist. There are only two working prototypes worldwide. They might exist in the future in economic form if many of them are manufactured. But, for now, only China and Russia are operating them, and they were very expensive to build.

Peter Dutton’s $1.5tr of new network cost is a preposterous figure that could string a gold-plated cable around Australia several times.

The below chart from the CSIRO projects a halving of SMR costs by 2030, and they are still the most expensive power available:

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/push-for-nuclear-energy-ignores-glaring-problem/news-story/a1a6fdcabab448ce60642adcfcd9318a