Nation's science agency CSIRO hits back at Dutton claim that nuclear power costings were 'discredited'
ABC News
March 15 2024
In short: The CSIRO has made a rare intervention to defend its research against criticism from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
It follows Mr Dutton describing the CSIRO's research finding nuclear power to be the most expensive source of new energy for Australia as "discredited".
The nation's leading science institution, the CSIRO, has defended its research into energy generation following comments from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton disparaging its findings that nuclear power would be the most expensive source of new energy for Australia.
Mr Dutton has been advocating introducing nuclear power to Australia's energy grid as a way to provide a reliable supply of electricity quickly and at a reasonable cost.
But the CSIRO's GenCost report, which is produced annually by the Australian Energy Market Operator, found renewable energy sources including wind and solar were the most affordable sources of new energy production in Australia, with nuclear power the most expensive.
When asked about the CSIRO's report earlier this week, Mr Dutton said it was "discredited".
"It's not relied on. It's not a genuine piece of work. It doesn't take into account some of the transmission costs, the costs around subsidies for the renewables," he said.
Pressed on whether he was suggesting the CSIRO could not be relied on, he responded: "I think that's been well documented."
CSIRO chief executive Douglas Hilton has hit back, defending the institution in a rare intervention into political debate.
"I will staunchly defend our scientists and our organisation against unfounded criticism," he said in a statement on Friday.
While Mr Dutton was not named, Dr Hilton's remarks directly refute his suggestion the CSIRO and its research were unreliable.
"The GenCost report can be trusted by all our elected representatives, irrespective of whether they are advocating for electricity generation by renewables, coal, gas or nuclear energy," he said.
"No matter the challenge we are tackling, CSIRO's scientists and engineers can be relied on by the community to work creatively, assiduously and with integrity."
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Shortly after Dr Hilton's statement was released, Mr Dutton defended his comments, declaring "there [was] nothing disparaging about the comments that I made".
"My point is that we need to compare apples with apples. At the moment, that report that was released, it doesn't take into consideration all of the costs around renewables.
"I'm strongly in favour of renewables, but we need to keep the lights on and we need to keep our prices down."
The opposition is pushing for the development of small modular nuclear reactors across Australia, and more recently, for large nuclear reactors to be built on the sites of closing coal-fired power stations.
The GenCost report considered the cost of new energy generators — including small modular reactors but not large nuclear power plants — both with and without associated "integration costs" such as transmission and storage.
It found that even when those integration costs were taken into account, the cost range for variable renewables was still the lowest of all new-build technologies, with small modular nuclear reactors and hydrogen peaking plants the most expensive.
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CSIRO Science Agency Hits Back At Dutton (Read 162 times)
