Pursuing nuclear power in Australia could add at least 2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, according to a Climate Change Authority report.
The agency found that the Coalition’s proposed nuclear pathway could cause Australia to miss its 43% emissions reduction target for 2030 by more than 5%.
“Continuing on Australia’s current pathway and accelerating our progress can deliver rapid cuts to emissions by overhauling our grid with renewables, firming and storage in the next 15 years,” said Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean.
“On the other hand, the nuclear pathway would delay Australia’s necessary transition — keeping coal in the grid for longer and leading to billions of tonnes more emissions in the process.”
Emissions in the national electricity market would be higher every year until 2049 if a nuclear pathway was pursued, the Climate Change Authority’s report said.
The Coalition has recommended building seven nuclear power plants by 2050. Nuclear power has been banned federally in Australia since 1998, with every state and territory also separately prohibiting its use.
CSIRO found in December that nuclear power plants were unlikely to be developed in Australia within 15 years, and projected initial large-scale nuclear generators could each cost around $18 billion.
Australia is expected to issue a new 2035 emission target under the Paris Climate Agreement following the election, which will take place on or before 17 May.
Following the Climate Change Authority’s report, Liberal Senator Jane Hume suggested Kean could be removed as as the agency’s head if the Coalition won the election, saying it had become “badly politicised”. Kean, a former deputy leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, said in response that the agency is a “scientific-backed organisation”.
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