Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My apologies. The CSIRO has written numerous reports that found the cost of nuclear energy would be the most expensive energy for Australia. The CSIRO GenCost 2021-22: final report estimates that electricity produced by nuclear energy using small modular reactors, or SMRs, would likely be approximately two to five times more expensive than electricity produced by renewables. To achieve the lower end of this range would require SMRs to be deployed globally in large enough numbers to bring down costs available to Australia. Even the nuclear energy industry itself admits that cost is a prohibitive factor compared with renewable energy. Clearly the better option is to invest in renewables.

The CSIRO's 2021 GenCost report confirms the past year's findings that wind and solar are the cheapest source of electricity generation and storage in Australia. Nuclear power plants create radioactive waste, plain and simple. We need to remember that management of nuclear and radioactive waste has been a continuing issue in Australia, and we do not currently have a permanent disposal facility for radioactive waste.

Previous governments have been searching for an appropriate location for approximately four decades. I ask: what is the opposition's plan to deal with the massive amount of radioactive material that would be generated from 80 SMRs around Australia. And once you figure out where it's going to be disposed or stored, you then need to contemplate how it will be transported there. The likely scenario is on a truck. Dozens of trucks carrying nuclear and radioactive waste across the country, collecting and depositing spent nuclear fuel rods.

A recent incident in my home state of Western Australia caused worry and fear in the community when a tiny radioactive capsule was lost in transit. It is understood to have fallen off a truck. The emergency response was far from understated. Six days across 1,400 kilometres of highway with specialist teams using radiation-detecting equipment. Fortunately, it was found, but it could have been worse.

We need to consider what Australians want. Many Australians fear nuclear power because of safety concerns. In 2010 and 2012 an Australia-wide survey assessed Australians attitudes to nuclear power. And while Australians believe nuclear power offers a cleaner, more efficient option to coal, they were against nuclear power due to safety concerns and distrust. We are here to listen to our communities. Thank you.

See this speech in context