Safe, reliable and affordable, nuclear power ticks all the boxes, including being the only stand-alone power generation source that can satisfy those fretting about human-generated carbon dioxide gas, by not generating any during the generating process.
As the rest of the world crab walk away from their subsidised wind and solar catastrophes, embracing nuclear power as if their lives and livelihoods depend upon Australia has simply doubled down.
Australia’s witless energy Minister, Chris Bowen fails to exhibit any sign of intellect, let alone any indication of insight or wisdom. His maniacal mission to make the delivery of electricity so haphazard and costly starts with wind and solar generation target of 82%. No country in the world has ever got close; once wind and solar account for more than 30% of power delivered to a grid, grid reliability suffers and power prices skyrocket.
Earlier this year, Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton rattled Bowen when he announced full-blown support for nuclear power. Bowen, exhibiting all the qualities for which he is renowned, called it “a dumb idea for Australia”, and proving, once and for all, that for as long as the Green/Labor Alliance are in charge of this Country, the chances of restoring reliable and affordable power are nil.
The Swedes have ditched their policy of trying to rely on wind and solar, plumping for new nuclear power, instead. And the French are demanding a rapid uptake of nuclear power across Europe.
But in Australia – with its idiotic, 25-year-old ban on nuclear power generation – the sensible response to their self-inflicted energy woes seen in Europe fails to register, with the solution to Australia’s power pricing and supply calamity hiding in plain sight.
As opposition energy spokesman, Ted O’Brien points out in the article below, when Bowen stands up at the latest climate change shindig into Dubai he will demonstrate all the gravitas of a schoolboy in shorts with pimples.
Allies say it is nuclear for take-off in climate ambush
The Australian
Geoff Chambers
24 November 2023
Chris Bowen is facing a nuclear ambush at the UN climate change conference, with Labor’s renewables-only vision isolating Australia as an international outlier as the US and key allies charge ahead with zero-emissions nuclear reactor technologies.
Ahead of flying to Dubai next week for the COP28 summit, the Energy Minister on Thursday defended his plan for taxpayers to underwrite 32GW in new renewables generation to help Labor achieve its 82 per cent renewables by 2030 target.
As Mr Bowen rails against nuclear energy as being too expensive while keeping secret the costs of guaranteeing renewables projects, the US, Britain and other key allies are leading a push to triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050.
The Australian can reveal opposition energy and climate change spokesman Ted O’Brien will travel to the United Arab Emirates for his first UN climate change summit, where he will deliver a speech to the World Nuclear Association.
US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, who believes “nuclear is 100 per cent part of the solution”, this week revealed he would unveil the first global strategy to commercialise nuclear fusion energy at the COP28 summit.
There is global momentum behind nuclear, with US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act supporting the zero-emissions energy source, G7 nations backing nuclear to help achieve net-zero targets and dozens of countries endorsing nuclear energy at a September meeting in Paris.
Mr O’Brien said the Coalition’s 2025 election energy policy would include nuclear over the long term while better integrating renewables, bringing on more gas and keeping coal-fired stations running. He said the UAE’s success in rolling-out four reactors in quick succession positions the climate change conference as the “nuclear COP”, with countries lining up to say “there is no credible pathway to net zero without nuclear energy”.
“This COP is the first time that we are expecting a major communique signed by our closest allies and partners (on nuclear energy) and Australia won’t even be in the room,” Mr O’Brien said.
“(Anthony) Albanese is trying to save face at COP with all of these announcements, he’s trying to get ahead of COP and potential blackouts in summer with this ridiculous announcement that the taxpayer now has to mop up the failure of government.”
Mr O’Brien said it was “absolute lunacy” for the government to double down on a “now disproven (renewables-only) pathway”.
“If you look at Ontario in Canada, over the last few months they have quadrupled their order for small modular reactors. The UK are going hard on a mix of both small modular and large reactors,” he said.
“The Inflation Reduction Act … put nuclear on par with renewables in terms of a lot of its incentives. The world is embracing a diversified mix understanding the importance of baseload technology and they’re opting for zero emissions nuclear. Bowen’s obsessed with wind and solar as the only means.”
Mr Bowen, who will convene a meeting of energy ministers on Friday to secure agreement on the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme designed to “supercharge” the renewables rollout, said Labor would not follow the Coalition’s “gamble for nuclear”.
As Labor distances itself from thermal generation, the International Energy Agency on Thursday released a report declaring that new oil and gas investments would still be needed for the world to hit net zero emissions goals.
Mr O’Brien said the Coalition’s energy policy would not put forward nuclear as the short-term solution. “We need to get more gas in, we need to keep coal-fired power stations running, we need to manage renewables in a sensible way. It’s not about nuclear versus renewables,” he said.
[Note to Ted: in fact, once Australia adopts nuclear power, there will be no need at all for another wind turbine or solar panel ever again, and by the time Australia gets its first nuclear plant up and running, all of the panels and turbines operating today will be busted up and their non-recyclable components dumped in landfills – which means every part of a solar panel and every last turbine blade.]
“We are looking at micro-reactors, small modular reactors and large reactors. However, we are only considering new and emerging technologies. The old technologies from decades ago that people want to tell awful stories about, of course we’re not looking at them, wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.”
While renewables investors, energy companies and super funds endorsed the expanded CIS, which lifts government-backed renewables capacity from 6GW to 32GW, the Coalition and Australian Energy Council said the market intervention was high-risk and could leave taxpayers exposed.
The Australian
STOP THESE THINGS 
Looking forward to reading this article. Just from the title alone, any chance of sending this to Australia’s Energy Minister Chris Bowen. He is dead set against even considering this source, despite us already having the raw materials! cheers Mae Rethers ________________________________
The real issue with nuclear is the fact that people everywhere are frightened of its destructive capability as a weapon. This needs to be the focus until nuclear disarmament is achieved. Are we at the precipice globally where that could happen very quickly?
Agreed Rafe, but Bowen, Labor and various Liberals want to get rid of coal by destroying the profits and avoiding any replacements. In the short term gas might be antidote but not as Peaker plants i.e. OGCTs which are expensive to run and generate as much CO2 (per MWh) as Victoria’s brown coal plants.
Bowen’s fantasies will cost money but he will be gone in 18 months, and most of his plans won’t be started let alone completed. Perhaps the incoming Government could cancel most on the basis of fraudulent claims?
If the Liberals take a real stance on nuclear they will likely get a lot more support.
Duttons statement earlier this year that they wanted to build SMRs as backup to unreliables was farcical. As noted by STT in the article, if you build full scale nuclear you don’t need, (did we ever?), unreliables.
The Libs need to grow a backbone.
Legalise nuclear power in Australia by all means but we will have to burn gas and coal for a decade or three before we have enough nuclear capacity to keep the lights on.
The Liberal push for nuclear power in Australia is a distraction from the main game which is to elect some politicians who can defend fossil fuels in public debate, including an Energy Minister who is not scientifically illiterate and an embarassment.