The Coalition did not approach Geoscience Australia to ask about the suitability of any of the seven sites where it wants to install nuclear reactors, or even to ask about earthquake risks, a parliamentary hearing was told.
The government has called a parliamentary inquiry to examine Coalition proposals to lift the country's ban on nuclear power and build taxpayer-funded reactors at seven sites.
A renewable energy industry figure attacked the Coalition's plans during the hearing, saying they were a “smokescreen” to continue burning coal and petrol.
During Monday's hearing, Geoscience Australia officials said it would likely take two years to carry out comprehensive “geographic hazards” assessments for each site that would look at risks including earthquakes and tsunamis, and geological formations beneath each site, such as water sources. underground and caves. .
Opposition energy spokesman Ted O'Brien, deputy chair of the inquiry, said the two-year timeframe was in line with Coalition expectations.
The chair of the inquiry, Bordado MP Dan Repacholi, had asked about recent earthquakes in his Hunter constituency, where the coalition wants to install a reactor at the Liddell coal-fired power station.
O'Brien revealed that the Coalition had received advice from Professor Andrew Whittaker, a US-based expert on seismic events in relation to nuclear energy.
Whittaker had assured him, O'Brien said, that earthquakes in the Hunter would be “inconsequential” for the operation of a nuclear power plant.
But Dr John Dawson, head of community safety at Geoscience Australia, said any site assessment would require “detailed investigation” before “anyone can definitively say whether these sites are suitable”.
“International experience would indicate that the studies would probably take on the order of two years depending on the complexity of the installation,” he said.
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O'Brien asked Dawson how Australia's seismicity (frequency of earthquakes) compares to countries that already use nuclear power, such as Japan, South Korea, France, the United States and Canada.
Dawson said he considered himself comparatively short.
John Grimes, chief executive of the Good Power Council, an advocacy group representing clean energy companies, told the inquiry that the Coalition's plan was to “attack renewables and push fossil fuels”.
Grimes, recalling former Prime Minister Scott Morrison's parliamentary mockery in 2017, called the proposal “the current version of a lump of coal in parliament.”
“The motivation [of the Coalition’s plan] is to attack renewable energies and stop them,” he stated. “Nothing has changed. “This is a smokescreen.”
The committee is scheduled to submit a final report by April 30, 2025, which will likely be before the next universal election.