Dutton’s Nuclear Folly: Small Modular Reactors a political mirage

As Peter Dutton talks up nuclear power, it is not surprising to see Andrew Liveris shifting his pitch from a ‘gas led recovery’ to a call for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to be considered for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Dutton is engaged in politics, Liveris in fantasy. Rex Patrick reports on the nuclear distraction.

What’s a Small Modular Reactor?

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are nuclear powered reactors with an electrical power output of less than 300 megawatts (MW).

There’s potential for these reactors to be mass produced and deployed at significantly lower costs to traditional nuclear reactors to replace coal and gas fired power plants with low carbon, base-load, synchronous power generation. 

But for a sunburnt country with an abundance of space, they will never compete with solar and wind, supplemented by base-load technologies such as batteries, hydro, pumped-hydro and molten salt.

A Liveris’ Fantasy

Liveris’s 2032 suggestion was beyond belief.

Russia has packaged two low powered nuclear ice breaker reactors in a floating barge to claim a first SMR. China has a demonstration SMR in Shidaowan. Apart from that, they don’t exist.

The US is aiming to have its first SMR generating power in 2029. Its proponent, NuScale Power, has assigned a memorandum of understanding with Polish mining firm, KGHM, to deploy a plant to support its copper and silver production in Poland.

While there are over 70 SMR designs being developed across 18 countries, few are even close to being commercially mass produced.

Australia has had some involvement in SMRs through ANSTO, the operator of the Australia’s only 20 MW nuclear reactor used for nuclear medicine, research, scientific and industrial purposes. 

Since late 2020 ANSTO has been participating in a three year International Atomic Energy Agency’s co-ordinated research project on the economic appraisal of SMRs. It has assembled a team of its own and other Australian experts to analyse the economics of the technology. 

They have also supported a University of Queensland PhD candidate to model the deployment of SMRs across the Australian National Energy Market. The student is due to conclude his PhD work in a few month’s time.

Eight days after Minister Chris Bowen was sworn in he sought an ANSTO briefing on SMRs.

The Politics of Dutton

While ANSTO has been at work, CSIRO has also been working with the Australian Energy Market Operator to work out the Levelised Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) for each technology.

For 2030, wind and solar are sitting on or around $50/MWh while SMRs are somewhere between $150 and $300/MWh

For 2050, wind and solar are sitting on or below $50/MWh while SMRs are somewhere between $125 and $150/MWh.

Peter Dutton is not one to let facts get in the way of a political position.

Turnbull foiled, Teals fuelled 

Across 2017 and 2018 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was working up a National Energy Guarantee (NEG) policy to deliver energy to Australia which balanced out cost, reliability and emissions cleanliness. It was policy designed by engineers and economists. 

Dutton moved to exploit deep seated division in the Liberal National Party (LNP).

He wasn’t interested in climate change. He wasn’t interested in good policy. He was interested in himself. He used NEG to challenge Turnbull’s leadership and, while he failed, he managed to kill off the policy. A second challenge saw Scott Morrison sworn is as Prime Minister and the NEG abandoned.

I see @David_Speers is referring to the National Energy Guarantee as “Malcolm Turnbull’s NEG”. In fact the NEG had the support of the entire Cabinet, including and especially the current PM and Treasurer. It was approved by the Party Room on several occasions.

— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) April 20, 2019

Dutton was the person responsible for a moment in time that created opportunity for the Teals, who went on to displace a number of LNP members in the 2022 election.

A lack of vision

Dutton promoting nuclear will appeal to the LNP base. To the informed, he won’t appeal to those concerned about cost of living and, yet again, he’s certainly not offering leadership and vision.

Yes, there is a case for a mix of wind, solar and nuclear (in place of gas and coal), but it is not a case that’s filled with vision. A better future for Australia is one that seeks to capitalise on abundant space and renewables; a mix of wind, solar, batteries, hydro, pumped-hydro, batteries, molten-salt and other technologies. 

That’s what Malcolm Turnbull was trying to do with NEG and Snowy Hydro 2.0. Sadly, Snowy Hydro 2.0 is a project that’s turning out to be a good idea poorly executed. 

Originally envisaged to cost $2b, new estimates have its final costs sitting at $10b. A value for money re-assessment must occur, with one alternate pumped-hydro solution being Tasmanian with a second cable being funded to clean electrons across the Bass Strait?

Fusion power

Solutions are available as we wait for fusion energy to arrive.

Fusion received international attention in late 2022 when a US based group made more energy that was put into a fusion reaction, showing proof of concept.

It’ a long way off, a source that won’t be fielded until beyond 2050, but something we should be aiming for.

Wasted opportunity

We don’t pass our planet on to our children and grandchildren; it’s actually on loan from them. It should be treated accordingly.

We should cast our mind forward to 2070, when the world has fully embraced base-load renewables and fusion.

A young man named Dutton will be asking himself ‘what exactly was my great-grandfather thinking”, as he grapples with the still controversial and unsolved problem of dealing with high level nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines and a foray into SMRs.

The answer to the young man’s question will be, “folly”.

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Editor’s Note: au contraire, the ‘experts’ at Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News Australia recently cited ‘expert’ research by Piers Ackerman on Murdoch’s Daily Telegraph claiming nuclear energy was by far the cheapest option :0

Murdoch’s Nuclear Option