Coalition reveals seven nuclear plant sites across regional Australia

The proposed sites, as revealed by ACM Agri several weeks ago, are Mount Piper and Liddell in New South Wales, Loy Yang in Victoria, Tarong in the federal seat of Maranoa, held by Nationals leader David Littleproud, and Callide in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia and Collie in the southwest corner of Western Australia.

The plants will likely be multi-reactosr site depending on the size of the reactors used and the amount of energy required to be pumped into the grid in a particular region from nuclear.

The Coalition would commence a two-and-a-half year comprehensive community engagement process and a detailed technical analysis of each location if elected.

It then plans to initially develop establishment projects at two of the seven proposed sites using either small modular reactors or large-scale nuclear power stations, such as the AP1000 or APR1400 plant designs.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said these would start producing electricity by 2035 with small modular reactors or 2037 if modern larger plants were found to be the best option.

The major policy announcement has laid out the battlefield for the forthcoming federal election to be, as noted by Energy Minister Chris Bowen, a referendum on the nation's path to net zero by 2050 as both parties fine-tune arguments to secure a "social licence" from voters.

There was a very narrow field of available sites able to host nuclear reactors under the Coalition's criteria of using retiring coal plants with a coal fired generator and existing distribution network, including poles and wires, to transmit power.

The sites were confirmed to the media following a joint party room teleconference on Wednesday morning and specifically chosen on water availability, closure dates and capacity of connection to the grid.

The Loy Yang power station, housed in the federal division of Gippsland in Victoria held by Nationals MP Darren Chester, is scheduled to close in 2035, the Collie power station in 2027, the Callide power station in 2028, the Tarong power station in 2037, the Mount Piper power station in 2040, while the Liddell power station and Port Augusta's Northern Power Station have already wound down.

Mr Dutton also surprisingly announced that the "zero-emissions" reactors would be commonwealth-owned and operated, meaning that the communities would host an asset of national importance, despite saying only a few weeks ago that they would be funded through private capital.

However, no costings were revealed.

"The Coalition believes Australia must have a balanced energy mix to deliver cheaper, cleaner and consistent 24/7 electricity. 90 per cent of baseload electricity, predominantly coal fired power stations, is coming to the end of life over the next decade," he said on Wednesday.

"Nuclear energy for Australia is an idea whose time has come."

Mr Littleproud likened the proposed nuclear plant in Tarong as unlocking a legacy for the South Burnett region, "just as Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen ... with the commissioning of the Tarong coal-fired station in the 1980s".

"Today's announcement will not only lock in the existing secure jobs but create more jobs and economic investment for decades after the Tarong coal-fired power station reaches its end of life," he said.

"I'm proud to say this will be the biggest single investment ever made in the South Burnett.

"Importantly, locals will own the power station. The Nationals will not allow our local energy security, and the nation's energy security, to all be owned by billionaires or multi-national companies."

The plants being public-owned utilities will be loosely modelled on initiatives such as the Snowy Hydro and National Broadband Network projects.

It is unknown if the flip to a taxpayer-owned model was a party room decision or reflects early scouting for expressions of interest from potential commercial developers coming back empty-handed.

The biggest stumbling block for the Coalition will be convincing the public and other political parties to lift the nuclear ban.

While an election victory would equate to a mandate, the Coalition have not held the balance-of-power in the Senate for several years and the nuclear bans are legislated by the state's with the Queensland opposition already flagging resistance to winding back the law.

Another significant barrier will be potential community resistance and the likelihood of prolonged and localised Labor campaigns in the seats where the nuclear plants have been slated for construction.

While Mr Dutton said he was relaxed about the election becoming a "referendum" on energy and nuclear, pointing out that Labor has supported AUKUS submarines and recently signed new agreements under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity that among other things included a co-operative work program on small modular reactors.

Meanwhile, the perceived and real dangers of mixing nuclear reactors and fault lines was a reason for the length of time needed for the Coalition to finalise its energy plans.

While the risk of earthquakes damaging reactors has yet to permeate the public narrative, tremors over the perceived threat have rippled through Liberal ranks since Mr Dutton first flagged the policy.

There have also been little public discussions over where nuclear waste dumps will be dug and what routes the waste will be taken from reactors on public roads to the dumps.

The Coalition has also been considering how to head-off arguments that a nuclear program would not reduce emissions fast enough for Australia to reach its commitment to the Paris Accord.

Mr Dutton said while the party will not walk away from the agreement, and remains committed to its own net zero by 2050 pledge, its best tact appears to be muddying the waters by arguing that Labor itself will not reach its mandated target of a 43 per cent reduction on 2005 levels by 2030.

There also appears to be a split in the Coalition over support for large-scale renewables as a political party going into an election cycle.

However, the Coalition's own polling suggests that younger Australians are increasingly open-minded to nuclear as an energy alternative while older Australians may be the opposite.

Meanwhile, around 80 per cent of ACM-Agri readers from a limited sample size backed the Coalition's push to explore nuclear energy as an alternative to Labor's renewable agenda.