New government analysis supplied to Guardian Australia suggests the Coalition’s plan to replace retired coal-fired power stations with nuclear power plants would require an additional 508,000 megalitres – approximately the equivalent volume of Sydney Harbour – each year.
A Sydney Harbour’s worth of extra water will be needed each year by the Coalition’s proposed nuclear reactors, according to federal government analysis that opens a new front in the political fight over Peter Dutton’s signature energy policy.
The new analysis was based on several assumptions, starting with a 2018 Australian National University study that suggested nuclear power plants use 1.4 times as much water as coal-fired power stations.
The Frontier Economics modelling underpinning Dutton’s plan forecast nuclear would more than double the output to 104 terawatt hours, therefore requiring more than twice the volume of water, according to the government.
New analysis warns of serious implications for water supply given nuclear plants consume 1.4 times more than coal-fired power stations.
