The political right is always talking up nuclear power.
They don't love it. They love coal and gas.
#Australia Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has unveiled plans for taxpayers to build seven #nuclear power plants by 2050.
"THE CLIMATE COUNCIL has slammed the Coalition’s energy scheme as “a smokescreen for its commitment to coal and gas” and “radioactive greenwash”, which would delay Australia’s urgent and accelerating shift to clean energy and away from fossil fuels."
"Seven standard nuclear reactors would deliver approximately nine gigawatts of energy capacity. With AEMO’s latest plan indicating Australia will need at least 300 gigawatts by 2050.
The winners from this scheme are the multinational coal and gas corporations who will keep polluting until well past mid-century."
Weakening safety standards and oversight makes it cheaper to build nuclear power plants, and more "attractive to investors". What about people living around one?
Scientists Say Senate Bill Will Endanger People 'Living Downwind' of #Nuclear Plants
"This is not about making the reactor licensing process more efficient, but about weakening safety and security oversight across the board, a long-standing industry goal," says one #NuclearSafety expert.
It passed.
"A version of the bill had already passed in the House of Representatives and it will now go to President Joe Biden for a signature to become law. It passed the Senate 88-2 votes."
Now it still depends on how competitive nuclear is compared to solar and wind. The latter has become very, very inexpensive and very fast to build., hard to beat that.
In this piece, @takvera lays out a strong case against nuclear generation in Australia.
Here is one startling example:
"It is also illegal in every state and territory to build nuclear reactors, so any construction would have to wait for changes in legislation. There is no chance a nuclear power station could be built in Australia before 2040."
Illegal in every state and territory in Australia!
Really makes clear the proposal is not serious.