Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is an economic disaster that would leave Australians paying more for electricity

‘If we use Vogtle as an example, which is the one completed project that employed Peter Dutton’s favoured Westinghouse AP1000 technology, the extra cost to consumers of nuclear power would be very high.’ Photograph: Reuters

The Peter Dutton-led Coalition has announced that, if elected, the government will build seven nuclear power stations located across every mainland state.

One can understand the appeal of nuclear power to those who are unfamiliar with the history of the technology. Nuclear power has been with us for many decades, supplying large amounts of emission-free power across a wide number of democratic, developed countries in Europe and North America. Why wouldn’t we make use of a power source that can be turned up and down independent of the weather and which other developed nations have used for decades?