Federal Opposition's Proposal For Nuclear Reactors May Raise Household Energy Costs By AU$665: Report

Australian households may see a steep rise in their household budget due to increased energy bills, if the federal opposition's plan to build seven nuclear reactors goes through.

Analysts at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) assessed the plan's potential fallout on local families, and found out that typical households could see electricity bills rise by an average of AU$665 per year to cover the cost of establishing the power plants.

Furthermore, the effect will be disproportionate for households consuming more electricity, who may expect an average annual bill increase of AU$972. The scenario will arise likely because nuclear-generated electricity is projected to be 1.5 to 3.8 times more expensive than current electricity generation costs in eastern Australia.

"Our goal was to understand how the Coalition's nuclear plans would financially impact Australian households, so our research drew upon nuclear power plant costs from comparable real-world nuclear projects in countries similar to Australia," Johanna Bowyer, lead analyst at IEEFA, said, reported Nine News.

"The cost of electricity generated from nuclear plants would likely be 1.5 to 3.8 times the current cost of electricity generation in eastern Australia," Bowyer told Nine News. "For nuclear power plants to be commercially viable without government subsidies and generating 24/7 - as the Coalition proposes - electricity prices would need to rise to these higher levels to allow the nuclear power plants to recover their costs. This would result in a large increase in wholesale market prices which would then flow through to household bills."

The opposition's nuclear plan, which was unveiled three months ago, remained shrouded in mystery, as they've yet to disclose cost estimates or provide additional details.

Meanwhile, Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien criticized the IEEFA, accusing them of cherry-picking worst-case scenarios for their research.

However, the researchers stood firm on their findings, with co-author Tristan Edis saying, "We have used a range of optimistic assumptions around nuclear. Further, Australia has very limited nuclear capability, and all examples used were from countries which already have an established nuclear industry."