Dear editor,

Peter Dutton has used his Budget reply to double down on nuclear power -  yet again with no detail. 

The Liberals came up with a brand new plan last year - small modular nuclear reactors, across Victoria. That’s even after nine years in government at a Federal level - where even nuclear advocate Matt Canavan ruled it out as a plan. But just a couple of months after introducing their plan from opposition for small modular nuclear reactors - they realised the technology doesn’t exist anywhere in the Western world.

They immediately pivoted to large scale nuclear plants - with the promise of a full outline before the Labor budget. Dutton's May 16th budget reply delivered a double down on nuclear, but again with no detail.

As the months pass, the excessive costs, slow build times, and community resentment to nuclear becomes clearer, yet the Victorian and Federal Liberal party's obsession holds strong.

Given the Liberals have been unable to outline a basic policy on nuclear in over a year, it’s almost impossible to see how with no nuclear regulatory framework and no trained workforce, that one, let alone many nuclear reactors could be built in anything under twenty years. 

Voters don’t want nuclear in their communities yet Peter Dutton has boxed his party into an ideological position that doesn’t match the economics.

One in four Victorian homes have installed solar on their roof and wholesale prices in our state are the cheapest in the country.

Renewables are the cheapest form of electricity generation, nearly 40 per cent of electricity in Victoria’s grid is renewable and in just eleven years it will be 95% renewable.

Britain's latest nuclear plant is behind schedule, over budget and currently coming in at around $87 Billion AUD - to deliver just 3GW. 

The Liberals have stated they aren’t willing to subsidise nuclear energy, so they either need to let the nuclear idea go, or Victorians should expect skyrocketing power bills.