{"id":266437,"date":"2023-07-09T19:43:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T17:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=266437"},"modified":"2023-07-09T19:43:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-09T17:43:04","slug":"spectator-aussie-opposition-leaders-call-for-nuclear-to-backup-renewables-is-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=266437","title":{"rendered":"Spectator: Aussie Opposition Leader\u2019s Call for Nuclear to Backup Renewables is Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why not just build nuclear and ditch the renewables? Or better still, stick to cheap coal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why Dutton needs coal not renewables or nuclear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Moran<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, Opposition leader Peter Dutton called for Australia to embrace nuclear power to secure a clean, cost-effective, consistent electricity supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutton is right to be concerned that the government\u2019s policy of replacing coal-fired plants with renewables will end in a disastrous shortage of power.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutton\u2019s proposal is to replace coal-fired plants with small modular reactors that are on the drawing board in the US, UK, and elsewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By locating the new nuclear reactors in existing coal-fired plants, they can tap into existing transmission lines.\u00a0\u2026Dutton\u2019s plan has other problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He envisages using small modular reactors as a backup for a system dominated by intermittent wind and solar power<\/strong>\u00a0but nuclear power, like coal, with its high capital costs and low operating costs, is not well suited to that ancillary role.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/www.spectator.com.au\/2023\/07\/why-dutton-needs-coal-not-renewables-or-nuclear\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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What can I say? Can anyone imagine former Aussie Prime Minister and climate skeptic\u00a0Tony Abbott<\/a>\u00a0proposing such a daft scheme? Is this really the Aussie opposition party\u2019s idea of a vote winning energy policy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you imagine someone this weak having to deal with a real crisis? If someone invaded Australia, would he need to conduct an opinion poll before deciding whether to send soldiers to repel the invaders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Dutton is so scared of standing up to the greens in his own party ranks, that he makes a fool of himself, inserting a superfluous role for renewables in a nuclear energy policy scenario, who will he be prepared to stand up to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grow a pair\u00a0Peter Dutton<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 nobody is going to vote for a weak leader who tries to please everyone. Much as I detest the Albanese government, even proposing such a ridiculous policy is proof your party is not ready or fit to govern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update (EW): Dutton\u2019s full speech<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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