"They haven't fully understood": Research finds there's not enough water to run Coalition's nuclear plan

G’day legends, Archie Milligan from the National Account here.

I spent a good chunk of last week delving into a report from Professor Andrew I spent a good chunk of last week  delving into a report from Professor Andrew Campbell focusing on the potential immense water usage of the Coalition’s $116-$600 billion nuclear power pledge. Professor Campbell was previously Chief Executive of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and his study was commissioned by a group called Liberals Against Nuclear. 

The basics from Professor Campbell’s findings seem to be:

• The Coalition's nuclear policy doesn’t work because there isn’t enough water to run the reactors

• It could mean that the reactors will have to be reduced or stopped during hot and dry periods. Or they could face a melt down.

• Farmers could be subjected to water buy backs with Victorian farmers potentially forced to sell

I’ll admit: reading through the report myself I was going a tad stir crazy trying to make sense of the Coalition’s numbers because, as Professor Campbell points out, they just don’t really add up. Either we find water from some place unseen or undocumented or we force farmers to sell their water rights. I reckon both would be hard pills to swallow.

We’ve also spoken to Andrew about this report….and the quote that sums it up best is this.

 “I suspect that in some cases they hadn't fully understood the ongoing water requirements for the rehabilitation of the coal assets.” 

He’s specifically talking about the Loy Yang proposal. But when you read the report you quickly realise this applies to essentially every site bar one in the coalition's proposal. 

For more, check out my full report in the video below.

Thumbnail credit: Lukáš Lehotský