Nuclear, as part of a cheaper, cleaner and consistent energy future.
Learn more about Australia's Energy Problem
In 2023, fossil fuels contributed 63% of Australia’s electricity, and renewables contributed 37%. Solar and wind have been growing and will continue to play an increasingly important role in our energy mix.
However, there are limitations, because these energy sources only produce electricity when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. And though we can store some of this energy in batteries or dams, storing very large amounts of electricity is very expensive.
Australia needs an energy system that supplies the right amount of energy all the time. Failure to do so results in blackouts and higher energy bills.
Our economy and the essential services we rely on, such as hospitals, telecommunications, water and sewerage and public transport cannot function without electricity that is 100% reliable.
While the percentage of coal in our energy mix has steadily declined, it continues to provide essential baseload power.
This means consistent electricity, around the clock – including when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.
Under Labor, 90% of this 24/7 baseload power will be forced out of our energy grid by 2035, without any guarantee of a like-for-like replacement.
The Australian Energy Market Operator is warning of the increased risk of reliability gaps, meaning blackouts or brownouts. Power bills have increased by up to $1,000 more than the Albanese Government promised.
Labor’s all-eggs-in-one-basket ‘renewables only’ approach wrongly assumes that one technology class alone can do the job.
Yet Labor’s renewable energy target – 82% renewables by 2030 – is considerably behind schedule. Labor's climate target of 43% emissions reduction by 2030 has become unachievable.
A plan is needed to reduce power prices and secure clean, cheap and consistent energy for Australians.
Zero-emissions nuclear has proven to be one of the world’s safest forms of energy, due in large part to its successful management of waste. The spent fuel produced by an individual’s entire life’s energy use could easily fit inside a can of soft drink.
Nuclear fuel is solid, not airborne or liquid. Consistent with standard practice around the world, spent fuel from zero-emissions nuclear power plants will be stored on site throughout the life of the asset before being transferred to a permanent repository.
As part of the AUKUS agreement, we will soon be managing spent fuel from the reactors used in submarines. The Government is currently looking for a permanent repository for this purpose. Australia could follow the same approach as the United Kingdom by using the same permanent repository for managing spent fuel from both zero-emissions nuclear plants and our future fleet of nuclear propelled submarines.
Australia is no stranger to nuclear waste. We have been successfully managing nuclear waste produced at our research reactors since 1958.
Responsibly managing our nuclear waste is something Australia needs to do, whether we pursue zero-emissions nuclear energy or not.
Australia’s scientists can manage this. They already do.
If you are serious about meeting our international climate change targets, then you must include zero emission nuclear as part of your energy mix. Zero emission nuclear power plants produce no air pollution or carbon emissions.
Zero emission nuclear power plants also use much less land and raw materials than large scale renewable projects. For instance, a next generation nuclear power station, including all auxiliary buildings and the security perimeter would cover about 45 acres (roughly the size of a mid-sized shopping centre). For every MWh of electricity produced:
In addition, unlike a modern nuclear plant, which can be plugged into the existing grid, Labor’s expensive renewables-only grid requires up to 28,000km of new transmission lines.
By reducing impacts on our landscape, zero-emissions nuclear will not only protect regional communities, but our environment and wildlife.
Solar and wind renewable power plants need to be replaced approximately every 25 years whereas a modern zero emission nuclear power plant has an expected service life of up to 80 years.
Expensive renewable projects also create challenges with materials. In Australia:
[1] UNSW, Solar panel end-of-life management in Australia, March 2024
[2] University of Sydney, Australia faces solar waste crisis, September 2023
[3] Clean Energy Council, Decommissioning, recycling and resource recovery of Australian wind turbines, March 2023
Modern nuclear power plants with the latest technology are incredibly safe.
The technology is safe enough for our international partners such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and France.
The technology is safe enough for Australian Defence Force personnel who will shortly be operating nuclear propelled submarines under the AUKUS agreement.
The technology is safe enough for residents of Lucas Heights in Sydney, who have lived and worked around an operating reactor since 1958.
The Albanese Labor Government's renewables-only plan will cost at least $642 billion. This is over fives times more expensive than previously claimed by Labor.
An independent economic assessment by Frontier Economics has revealed the true cost of Labor's plan. You can read their report here or download our fact sheet below.
