Peter Dutton’s bid to politicise top science agency is ‘absurd’, former CSIRO energy director says

Peter Dutton has been accused of attempting to politicise the CSIRO’s work on the likely costs of nuclear reactors. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

A former CSIRO energy director has said Peter Dutton’s attempt to politicise the national science agency’s work on the likely costs of nuclear reactors is “incredibly disappointing” and “absurd”.

The opposition leader attacked the CSIRO after its latest GenCost report reaffirmed that electricity from nuclear energy in Australia would be at least 50% more expensive than power from solar and wind, backed up with storage.