ENERGY PRODUCTION COSTS
* Using nuclear power to generate Australia’s energy needs would be twice as expensive as relying on renewable sources, the CSIRO and Australian Energy Market Operator have found.
* Building a single large-scale nuclear reactor would cost $8.5 billion and could take beyond 2040 to complete due to infrastructure, security and safely hurdles.
* Overall, renewable energy costs would be lowest at $73 to $128 per megawatt hour, while nuclear costs would hit $141 to $233.
* Nuclear small modular reactors would cost $230 to $382 per megawatt hour.
* Due to the scale of nuclear power plants, a large reserve would have to be built to cover outages when no coal plants were in operation.
* The coalition has promised to add nuclear power to the energy grid but is yet to release details including cost and location.
Source: CSIRO and Australian Energy Market Operator’s GenCost report
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Bray Boland
(Australian Associated Press)
