Nuclear Power Not Cost-Effective in Australia, Science Body Says

(Bloomberg) -- Nuclear power isn’t a cost-effective solution for Australia to decarbonize its energy mix, according to the country’s national science agency. 

Atomic energy takes too long to build, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation said in an explainer on Monday. The country has never used nuclear power, making any potential roll-out cumbersome and limiting “its potential to play a serious role in reducing emissions,” it said. 

Australia’s center-right opposition have been pushing nuclear as a way to achieve net zero goals and lower electricity bills, chiming with a global renaissance in the technology. The Liberal-National coalition is running neck-and-neck in the latest opinion polls with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government ahead of an election that must be held by May. 

The CSIRO said it calculated the cost advantages of nuclear across a 60-year period, longer than the initial 30-year timespan that it used in a study released in May. Despite the new timeframe, there are “no unique cost advantages arising from nuclear technology’s long operational life,” it said, adding that renewables like solar and wind power are cheaper. 

The study also acknowledged that small modular reactors may be built faster, but also pointed out that the technology is not commercially readily available.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.