Unsustainable nuclear policies

May 22, 2025

Both the Liberal and National parties are in unsustainable energy policy positions. The Liberal leader labels the government’s policy “a reckless race to renewables”; the urgency of our shift to renewables is largely due to the Coalition’s decade-long denial and delay.

It remains to be seen whether the Liberals can see their way to a “mature debate” now that they are unencumbered by the anti-renewable Nationals members. The Nationals advocate more coal until nuclear fills the gap.

As John Quiggin points out, “the earliest possible start date for nuclear is after the 2028 election. This means plugging nuclear plants into the grid as coal-fired power stations retire and becomes virtually impossible”.

One nuclear power plant produces 1GW of electricity. To put this in perspective, the Clean Energy Council 2024 report found that “renewables overall accounted for nearly 40% of Australia’s total electricity supply in 2023 at 39.4%, while figures for generation capacity added were strong at 5.9 GW, up from 5 GW in 2022”.

Nuclear, whether privately or publicly funded, is not a serious proposition in an environment where renewables plus storage will provide most of our energy needs in the next decade.