Australian opposition leader reveals $210 billion price tag for nuclear plan

Sydney, Dec 13 (IANS) The leader of Australia's federal opposition party, Peter Dutton, has revealed his nuclear energy plan would cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Dutton, the leader of the Coalition, on Friday, released the long-awaited costing of his plan to build seven nuclear reactors on the sites of retiring coal plants if he is elected Prime Minister (PM) at the 2025 general election, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the independent costing, the plan would cost 331 billion Australian dollars ($210.7 billion).

Under Dutton's proposal, the first two publicly-owned reactors would begin operation by the mid-2030s, with coal-fired power plants to fill the generation gap in the meantime.

In 2050 -- by which the remaining five reactors would be operational -- Dutton said that nuclear power would account for 38 per cent of Australia's electricity generation, with renewables covering 54 per cent and the remaining eight per cent coming from a combination of storage and gas.

The governing Labor Party has committed to pursuing a renewables-only future, which the Coalition has claimed would cost over 600 billion AUD ($381.9 billion).

"This is a plan which will underpin the economic success of our country for the next century," Dutton told reporters on Friday.

"This will make electricity reliable. It will make it more consistent. It will make it cheaper for Australians, and it will help us decarbonise as a trading economy -- as we must."

Australia has had a ban in place on nuclear power since 1998, but Dutton has said he would repeal the ban and start work on building the reactors within two years of taking office as PM.

A report published by the national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on Monday found that nuclear reactors would cost twice as much over a 60-year timeframe as wind and solar generation.

The annual report concluded that the development time for a nuclear reactor in Australia would be at least 15 years.

The Australian Energy Council -- the industry group for electricity retailers and generators -- on Thursday told an ongoing government inquiry that it is highly unlikely that nuclear power would be a viable replacement for coal-fired power over the next 10-15 years.

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