Nuclear is OK if it makes economic sense. But Mr Dutton, in Australia, it doesn’t

A strange dynamic has developed where smart people think it’s the smart-person position to be pro-nuclear. But these people are confused. Rather, it is the smart-person position to beSadly, this appears lost on the federal opposition, which has decided that its one bold, politically contentious position at the next election will be toIt claims this is economically sensible.

To understand why, first some basic economics of electricity generation, using the most conservative figures and assumptions possible.Sources of electricity differ in the nature of their costs , their operating lifetime, the maximum energy they can produce, and the energy they produce at any time. In the US, the world leader with decades of experience and massive scale, new nuclear costs $133/MWh and, according to a, Australia can be expected to pay at least a 10-15 per cent premium. But to achieve this number, their reactors must run at close to maximum output, lowering the cost per unit of energy.

And there’s no good reason to go down such an expensive path when we have the great fortune in Australia of a far cheaper and perfectly reliable alternative.

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