CSIRO Report - Nuclear Reactors more expensive and a long time away

The CSIRO today released its annual GenCost Report for 2023-24.

The CSIRO has found that nuclear reactors will cost at least $8 Billion dollars to build one unit. The report also examined the time frame to build one - more than 15 years, which does not include the estimated 10 years for political changes such as removing laws banning nuclear reactors at state and federal level. If you ignore the political timeframe it is estimated that it would take until at least 2040 at the earliest add 10 years for political change and that blows out to 2050. That is too long to wait to remove carbon emissions from our electricity grid.

The report found that, even in the best case scenario, the cost of generating electricity from nuclear reactors, particularly the coalition’s preferred small module nuclear reactors, is significantly more expensive than generating electricity from solar, wind and firming.

It is important to note that when the report refers to “nuclear” as a new technology and a new industry it is referring to “nuclear” not being used in Australia for energy production and that an entire industry would need to be developed. Be aware that some nuclear advocates are distorting this.

The report finds that renewables (solar, wind and firming) are the cheapest option for generating Australia’s current and future electricity needs.

You can download the CSIRO Gencost Report: https://www.csiro.au/en/research/technology-space/energy/GenCost