The GenCost 2023-24 report released today highlights the need to act now to lift the ban on nuclear energy and setup a regulatory framework.
WePlanet Australia welcomes the inclusion of large-scale nuclear energy in the latest GenCost report released today by the CSIRO. The failure to model these costs over previous years has led to significant uncertainty in Australia’s energy debate.
While the GenCost report should be commended and included in analysis for costings on nuclear energy it’s by no means definitive, with the authors themselves acknowledging the uncertainty of carrying out such economic modelling. We encourage the media and policymakers to consider a range of sources when assessing the likely energy generation and entire system costs.
Some wildly exaggerated claims about delivery time for nuclear energy have been squashed by this new report with the reporting noting, “GenCost found nuclear power to be more expensive than renewables and estimated a development timeline of at least 15 years, including construction.”
This timeline is significant and underscores the importance of Australia taking steps now to overturn the regulatory bans on nuclear energy and begin setting up regulatory frameworks to allow the inclusion of nuclear energy. Australia might not choose to include nuclear energy but it’s better that as a nation we are prepared than to have to rush this work during any potential energy crisis.
We also note that the 15-year timeline in this new GenCost report, far from being unique to nuclear technologies, also pertains to offshore wind proposals and mega-scale solar projects, such as SunCable. Large scale energy projects are costly and lengthy but the value they bring to workers and communities, and to ensuring the competitiveness of the Australian economy, cannot be understated. Such projects also reflect the unprecedented scale of climate action needed. Policymakers should not shy away from bold, nation building projects. Read more about why we believe nuclear energy should be considered as part of Australia's clean energy future.