MEDIA RELEASE
June 19, 2024
The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, has today criticised the Federal Coalition’s “nuclear fantasy” as a commitment to higher energy bills for NSW households and more climate pollution.
Today’s announcement of an uncosted plan from the Federal Coalition to build nuclear reactors at Liddell power station in the Hunter Valley and Mount Piper power station near Lithgow is a dangerous distraction from the renewable energy transition underway in NSW.
International experience shows that it takes up to twenty years to build nuclear reactors, meaning that ageing coal fired power plants would continue to emit dangerous climate pollution for years to come.
Statements attributable to NCC Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Mumford
“The Federal Coalition has not released detailed research relating to sites in NSW nor come clean to the Australian people on the cost of building multi-billion dollar nuclear reactors.
“The announcement is nothing more than the Federal Coalition pandering to its mates in the fossil fuels industry.
“There’s no plan to deal with harmful nuclear waste, and no indication of how the Federal government would get around state-based bans on nuclear.
“We should be replacing our polluting and ageing coal-fired power plants in NSW with renewable energy generation and storage, not with a nuclear fantasy.
“Renewable energy is the cheapest and most affordable form of energy, and NSW needs to get on with the job of scaling it up to deliver a sustainable future and sound economic growth prospects for our state.”
Statement ends
Media contact: Anna Greer
E: [email protected] M: 0493 733 529 PH: (02) 7208 9482
Note: NCC CEO Jacqui Mumford is available for comment on request