Coalition MPs will be briefed on the plan in a party room meeting on Friday morning at 10am.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen rejects Frontier’s $642 billion figure and stands by the energy grid operator’s forecast of $122 billion. The dispute is based on different ways of accounting for costs in the future and alternative inclusions in each model.
Opposition veterans affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce,one of the most outspoken proponents of nuclear power within the Coalition,said Australians had to decide whether “you want a grid that works or you don’t”.
Asked aboutearlier reports of a $500 billion projected cost,Joyce told this masthead:“It always was going to be this much. But we are spending $24 billion for pumped hydro,which gives maybe a day of power,and then you have to pay for transmission lines. The per-reactor price is lower.”
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A key part of the Coalition argument is thecost blowout in the Snowy 2.0 project to generate more hydropower in the Snowy Mountains,while a nuclear project in the United Arab Emirates,backed by South Korean company KEPCO,has delivered results on time.
Joyce contrasted the Coalition plan with the controversial plan for the Hinkley Point C reactor in the United Kingdom,which is behind schedule,or the use of small modular reactors (SMR) in other countries.
“We are not devising a new reactor like in England,and we aren’t using an SMR,” he said.
“We are doing this with proven technology like in the UAE,it’s more economical that way. And that means the time frame can be realistic.”
Another member of the shadow cabinet,who asked not to be named,said most Australians were not concerned about nuclear power being rolled out as it would not be built anywhere near their homes.
“The biggest positive is that Peter has floated a big idea,a difficult idea,and he’s had the courage to do it. The debate over this will end up being modelling at 50 paces,” they said.
The Resolve Political Monitor found 34 per cent of voters supported the use of nuclear power,while 28 per cent were against it. Another 24 per cent said they did not have a strong view but were open to the government investigating its use.
The survey,conducted by research company Resolve Strategic,found 54 per cent of Coalition voters supported nuclear power while only 21 per cent of Labor voters and 15 per cent of Greens supporters said the same.
The question was:“There has been some debate about the use of nuclear power in Australia recently. What is your own view on the use of nuclear power in Australia?” The question did not outline the Coalition policy,given it had not been released.
The Resolve Political Monitor surveyed 1604 eligible voters from Wednesday to Sunday,generating results with a margin of error of 2.4 per cent.
While many Australians remain open to nuclear energy,views have tended to shift against the energy source since the survey asked about the issue more than one year ago.
The survey in October last year found that 33 per cent supported nuclear power and 29 per cent were open to the government investigating its use,leading to a total of 62 per cent who were prepared to back or consider it. This total slipped to 58 per cent in the latest survey.
The number of voters against nuclear increased from 24 per cent in October last year to 28 per cent in the latest survey.
In a separate question about taxpayer subsidies,the Resolve Political Monitor found 45 per cent of voters supported federal investments or subsidies for rooftop solar – the most favoured option. In contrast,only 13 per cent supported taxpayer subsidies for coal-fired electricity.
Power bills would rise by about $665 a year to repay the cost of building seven nuclear plants,according to analysis by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis,based on the repayments needed to fund the average of construction costs from reactors recently built around the world.
The Coalition policy assumes a smaller addition of renewable energy to the electricity grid compared to government policy,which forecasts an increase in the share of renewable energy to 82 per cent of the grid by 2030.
The opposition has claimed the influx of renewables,which currently supply 40 per cent of electricity,will increase power bills and the risk of blackouts and disrupt regional communities where wind and solar farms are built.
Another key point of difference is the opposition’s assumption that the nation’s coal plants will run for decades longer than the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has forecast.
AEMO predicts that 90 per cent of coal-fired generation will be shut down before 2035,with closures complete by 2040.
The opposition has said its first nuclear reactor will be completed by 2035,while experts including the CSIRO say 2040 is the earliest possible date. A fully operational fleet of nuclear reactors cannot be expected before 2050.
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