Australia's transition to net zero emissions is undoubtedly going to be complicated, and new ideas are always being tossed around.
However, there is one idea — which is in some ways a new take on an old one — that is being met with plenty of pushback.
A group of federal MPs, largely from within the Nationals, have been calling for Australia to at least consider the option of nuclear energy.
They point to "small modular reactors" being developed overseas as a simpler, lower-cost path to bringing nuclear power to the Australian grid.
It is something that has been considered before — the Morrison government ordered a committee of inquiry into the option in 2019.
Despite the committee recommending a partial lift on Australia's nuclear energy ban, that remains firmly in place.
Conservationist groups are wary the push for nuclear solutions might only serve to distract and delay from the already-rapid transition to renewables.
What are small modular reactors?
The new reactors try to take some of the cost and complexity out of making nuclear power.
Rather than building a reactor on-site, they are manufactured in a factory, shipped and the assembled wherever they are needed.
Small reactors are not new: They are used in nuclear submarines, for example.
The hope is that, rather than purpose-building large nuclear plants, the process of building many smaller, identical reactors will drive down the cost.
Very few of these reactors are in operation, but a number of companies are developing them.
Rolls Royce wants its first reactors online in the UK in 2029, with an asking price of roughly $3 billion each.
And GE Hitachi wants the first of its BWRX-300 generators up and running in Canada by 2028.
Political push towards nuclear
There have been voices within the Coalition advocating a conversation to nuclear energy for some time, but there has been a notable uptick since the May election.
Nationals leader David Littleproud wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in June, urging him to look at nuclear power.
His colleague, David Gillespie, is chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Nuclear Industries, and said Australia was risking missing out on a global movement.
"Nuclear technology has come ahead in leaps and bounds and, around the world, there is a stampede into it," he said.
"Australia is going to be caught with its pants down."
Mr Gillespie argues the intermittency of renewables will require a firming technology such as nuclear, and advocates using the sites of existing coal-fired stations as they are retired.
"These small, modular reactors could plonk on any existing coal-fired power station that ceases working," he said.
"The area, the plant, the grid is all satisfactory."
'Not commercial, not proven, not credible'
However, there is a firm push back from within the conservation movement, arguing nuclear remains prohibitively expensive, and the promised benefits of SMR's remain entirely unproven.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has published a briefing paper looking at the economics of emerging nuclear technologies, and arguing the future is "renewable, not radioactive".
It points, in the first instance, to recent findings from the CSIRO, which found solar and wind combined remained cheaper technology than nuclear under every scenario.
The briefing paper's author, Dave Sweeney, said that, while it was pleasing to see broad interest in finding zero-carbon energy options, nuclear was not the answer.
"This is not a solution that offers a credible pathway forward," he said.
"It is not at scale, it is not proven, it is not commercially producing.
"And, for generations, basically, there has been promise after promise of a new real renaissance in the nuclear industry, and it remains in its dark ages."
The ACF says any rollout of the technology would require huge subsidies, and lead to higher power prices.
Mr Sweeney also argues that the proposal does not stack up against the renewable alternative.
"We have looked at this from the perspective of a national environment group, keen to see a low-carbon future.
"And we've said: 'Look, in its simplest way, Australia's energy future is renewable, not radioactive'."
