The principal conclusions of this are the South Australia can safely increase its participation in nuclear activities. Such participation brings social, environmental, safety and financial risks. The state is already managing some of these risks, and the remainder are manageable. Some new nuclear fuel cycle activities (see Figure S.1) are viable. One in particular, the disposal of international used fuel and intermediate level waste, could provide significant and enduring economic benefits to the South Australian
community.
Viability analysis undertaken for the Commission determined that a waste disposal facility could generate more than $100 billion income in excess of expenditure (including a $32 billion reserve fund for facility closure and ongoing monitoring) over the 120-year life of the project (or $51 billion discounted at 4 per cent). Given the significance of the potential revenue and the extended project timeframes, the Commission has found that were such a project to proceed, it must be owned and controlled by the state government, and that the wealth generated should be preserved and equitably shared for current and future generations of South Australians. This presents an opportunity that should be pursued.
Social consent is fundamental to undertaking any new nuclear project. Social consent requires sufficient public support in South Australia to proceed with legislating, planning and implementing a project. Local community consent is required to host a facility. In the event that this involves regional, remote and Aboriginal communities, consent processes must account for their particular values and concerns.
Political bipartisanship and stable government policy are also essential. This is particularly important given the long-term operation of facilities and the need for certainty for potential client nations.The Commission looked closely at reactor safety and the major accidents associated with nuclear power plants. While acknowledging the severe consequences of such accidents, the Commission has found sufficient evidence of safe operation and improvements such that nuclear power should not be discounted as an energy option on the basis of safety.
Taking into account the South Australian energy market characteristics and the cost of building and operating a range of nuclear power plants, the Commission has found it would not be commercially viable to develop a nuclear power plant in South Australia beyond 2030 under current market rules. However, there will in coming decades be a need to significantly reduce carbon emissions and as a result to decarbonise Australia’s electricity sector. Nuclear power, as a low-carbon energy source comparable with other renewable technologies, may be required as part of a lower-carbon electricity system. While the development of other low-carbon technologies will influence whether nuclear power would be required to meet Australia’s future energy needs, it would not be able to play a role unless action is taken now to plan for its potential implementation.
The Commission recommends that the South Australian Government pursue removal at the federal level of existing prohibitions on nuclear power generation to allow it to contribute to a low-carbon electricity system, if required. In developing Australia’s future electricity system there is a need to analyse the elements and operation of that system as a whole, and not any single element in isolation. This will be significant in determining the role that nuclear and any other technologies should play.
The Commission recommends that the South Australian Government promote and collaborate on the development of a comprehensive national energy policy that enables all technologies, including nuclear, to contribute to a reliable, low-carbon electricity network at the lowest possible system cost. Given the prospect that new reactor designs, and in particular smaller reactors, might be viably integrated in the Australian electricity network, the Commission recommends that the South Australian Government also collaborate with the Australian Government to commission expert monitoring and reporting on the commercialization of new nuclear reactor designs that may offer economic value for nuclear power generation
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