Time for Australia to have a conversation about nuclear energy

As the government continues to demonise gas and encourage the premature closure of coal-fired power stations, the crisis will only deepen.

Recent announcements will see about 20GW of capacity shut down by 2035.

That's about 80 per cent of baseload generation gone from the National Electricity Market – with no guarantee of a replacement in time.

Other countries also face serious energy problems, but they are extending the life of their baseload power plants or restarting mothballed ones as we plan to blow ours up. As other nations are expanding their nuclear fleets or introducing nuclear energy, our government doesn't even want to talk about it.

Second, there's climate change. Nuclear energy is the cleanest industrial-scale source of energy generation the world has ever seen.

Its energy density is unparalleled and the fact it produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation explains why so many like-minded nations see it playing such a big role in their plans to reduce emissions.

The International Panel on Climate Change considers nuclear energy a "mitigating technology" for climate change.

All four IPCC pathways to achieve the goal of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5C include nuclear energy.

The United Nations' Envoy on Climate Action and Finance claims to have never seen a credible transition strategy that did not include nuclear.

And the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, said at COP27 last month: "We don't get to net zero by 2050 without nuclear power in the mix."

Third, the advances in nuclear technology can't be ignored. Not only does nuclear offer low-cost and consistent 24/7 electricity, but it also has the capability to "load-follow", ramping up and down to accommodate the volatility of weather-dependent renewables.

It has also proven to be the world's safest source of energy production. When I chaired a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy in the last term of government, the biggest lesson I learnt was the importance of a social licence; community acceptance is a prerequisite for nuclear energy.