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Dutton's atomic power bill for a 'nuclear family' could be nearly $39K

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been criticised for lack of detail in his nuclear plan (Screenshots via YouTube)

The Dutton nuclear power plan will cost about $264 billion if the type of reactor extolled by Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien is adopted.

That's equivalent to more than $9,700 for every man, woman and child in Australia — and $38,800 for the proverbial “nuclear family”.

The costings are simple.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced on 13 December:

‘By 2050, our plan will deliver up to 14 GW of nuclear energy, guaranteeing consistent and stable electricity for all Australians.’

O'Brien even produced a video highlighting the virtues of the Bill Gates-backed Natrium reactor, which provides 345 megawatts of power and is costing US$4 billion (AU$6.45 billion) for the first one being built in Wyoming by TerraPower.

Forty-one of the reactors would be needed to produce the promised 14GW of nuclear power at a cost of $264.45 billion.

Australia has an estimated population of 27.2 million, giving a total of $9,724 for every man, woman and child.

Mr Dutton has made it plain he is opposed to big nuclear facilities and the Natrium small modular reactor (SMR) reactor meshes with his pledge to ‘place the latest zero emission nuclear technologies on the sites of seven retiring coal-fired power plants’.

Another reactor that falls within his pledge to use the latest technologies is the Rolls Royce UK SMR 470 MWe which could cost between £3 billion and £4 billion (AU$5.9-7.9 billion) apiece.

Even the lower estimate of £3 billion equates to $5.9 billion. Thirty of them would be needed to meet the 14GW target, at a cost of $176.7 billion.

But Nuclear Consulting Group chairman Paul Dorfman has warned that because the Rolls Royce reactor is more than 50 per cent bigger than an SMR it “will need big sites, standard nuclear safety measures, exclusion zones, core catchers, aircraft crash protection and security”.

Ontario and the Tennessee Valley Authority are planning to use the innovative GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor but it has been reported that planning documents reveal a cost of around US$5.4 billion (AU$8.6 billion), amounting to a cost of $369 billion for the 43 needed to produce 14KW of power.

Another new SMR is the Westinghouse AP300 SMR.

An order for four of the reactors has been placed in the UK for the Tees Valley with the Daily Express reporting:

‘The four reactors would cost £10 billion and generate 1.2 gigawatts of power, enough for 1.6 million homes.’

That's £2.5 billion each, or AU$4.91 billion. Forty-three would be needed to meet the LNP target of 14GW — costing $211 billion. But this does not factor in the sort of cost blow-out experienced with other SMRs.

Mr Dutton was asked by ABC journalist Bridget Brennan in June:

“So, surely Australians need to know right now how much this is going to cost? Is it going to be as much as $16 billion per site?”

The answer is very much more expensive — more than $35 billion for each of the seven sites if Ted O'Brien's preferred Natrium reactor is adopted.

Steve Bishop is a journalist and author. You can read more from Steve at stevebishop.net.

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