Australia should wait for SMR market to mature, report says

As current coal-fired power stations begin to retire there is an urgent need for mature, low carbon technologies to fill the energy supply gap, the ATSE said. SMRs can make use of existing transmission infrastructure, contributing to baseload power, or providing dispatchable power in a high-renewables grid. But the earlier a country enters the SMR development market, the greater the cost and technology risk, the report says.

Although several prototype SMRs may be licensed, commissioned and built in OECD countries by the mid-2030s a mature market is not likely to emerge until the mid to late 2040s, the ATSE's Small Modular Reactors - The technology and Australian context explained found. An in-development or prototype SMR would be a riskier proposition both technologically and commercially. "An Australian government that wished to pursue a prototype SMR earlier than the 2040s would need to undertake legislative reform, acquire social licence, work directly with developers, and build the requisite skilled workforce," the report said.

"SMR technology could provide low carbon energy compatible with Australia’s current electricity system, however as an emerging technology, there is considerable uncertainty around commercial viability and some of these potential benefits," ATSE President Katherine Woodthorpe said.

"Overall, the associated timescales, expense, skills gap, legal and regulatory barriers, and social acceptance of nuclear power means the technology is high-risk when compared to existing energy options."

Woodthorpe called for "non-partisan analysis" to "objectively examine technology readiness and the role of nuclear technology in the long-term", but said this should not "detract focus" from the rapid deployment of currently available renewable technologies.

Despite being a major producer of uranium, Australia has no nuclear power plants and is heavily dependent on coal for its electricity generation. The country has formally pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030, with the current government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese supporting a transition to renewable energy. But the opposition has said it favours introducing nuclear power.

Speaking during a visit to Muswellbrook, in New South Wales - near one of the sites the opposition has earmarked for a possible future nuclear power plant - Dutton said the ATSE report underlined the need for reliable baseload power. "Our analysis is that we can have nuclear into the system 2035 to 2037 in the first two sites," he said.

"There is a lot of support here on the ground in Muswellbrook for nuclear energy and an understanding, I’ve got to say, of the realities of what we’re facing in the energy debate at the moment," Dutton said.

The ATSE said it supports a technology-neutral approach to the energy transition which requires that all options are considered on their merits.