Some issues with the energy minister’s claim that nuclear is just ‘hot air’

(CSIRO)

Here is a table with some real-world comparisons between nuclear, coal, and CCGT (gas).

Now you know why many in the industry wonder how the GenCost report has any credibility at all. In fact, $400 a MWh is the CSIRO's low-end cost, while in the real world, Korea can do it for US$39.40 per MWh, or AU$60.47.

That's less than we pay at the moment.

If we want to be a manufacturing powerhouse like Korea, then that is the sort of price for electricity we will need to achieve.

A diligent minister, particularly one who claims to care about made in Australia, would be among the skeptics.

But why does nuclear take so long to build?

There are two reasons why he can cherry-pick some examples to demonstrate problems with nuclear.

Because most European countries haven't built a nuclear facility in a long time they have lost their expertise, and so builds are of necessity, more expensive.

And we have wrapped the industry in regulatory cocoons which prolongs the approval time agonisingly.

Nuclear is highly capital intensive, and time equals money. This can be seen in the graph below where the capital cost of building a nuclear power plant ranges from approximately $2,000 per KW in China, Korea, and Russia, to $12,000 in the United States.