Bowen’s $387b nuclear price tag ‘doesn’t make sense’

afr.com:

The federal government’s $387 billion price tag to replace Australia’s coal-fired power stations with small modular nuclear reactors “doesn’t make sense,” an executive from US manufacturer Westinghouse Electric has claimed, arguing the price could be much cheaper.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen estimated in September that it would cost $387 billion to replace coal-fired plants with small nuclear reactors, assuming that 70 reactors would be needed. He used the figure to argue they are not viable for future power generation.

Westinghouse executive Rita Baranwal says Australia should consider building small nuclear reactors to meet net zero targets. Peter Rae

“I only have three engineering degrees and that math doesn’t make sense to me,” Westinghouse Electric Company senior vice president Rita Baranwal told The Australian Financial Review Energy and Climate Summit.

The reactors alone, on her estimate, would cost $US1 billion ($1.57 billion) each, or $US70 billion. There would be an additional cost, she noted, from making transmission more robust.

Amid rising power prices and concerns, Australia is not on track to meet its emissions reduction commitments, the Coalition has revived a push for nuclear generation, creating a clear point of difference on energy policy with Labor.

Shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien said Australia needed to consider nuclear energy to meet its net zero targets, along with other technologies that would complement increasing renewable energy generation.

Mr O’Brien argued that nuclear reactors could replace coal-fired power plants and help “firm up” renewables.

He said a future Coalition government would consider overturning the Howard government’s 1998 ban on nuclear power in Australia – a policy he