Crossbench MPs, state premiers and government figures have lined up to pour cold water on the Coalition’s pledge for a nuclear-powered Australia by 2035.

“No costs, no details, no modelling,” Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Wednesday, after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton unveiled his keenly anticipated energy policy.

It will put nuclear power plants in Australia’s former fossil fuel heartlands if the Coalition wins the federal election.

Dutton, alongside Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud, said a Coalition government would build seven plants at existing coal-fired power stations, with the assets to be owned by the Commonwealth.

The chosen sites are Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria’s Gippsland area, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Mount Piper at Lithgow in central west NSW and Liddell in NSW’s Hunter region.

The Coalition would also build small modular reactors at Northern Power Station in Port Augusta, South Australia, and at Muja Power Station, south of Perth.

SMRs are supposedly cheaper and quicker to build than their larger counterparts. But none have been completed globally and the CSIRO has warned it was “very unlikely” one would be up and running as quickly as 2038.

“We want to utilise the existing assets that we’ve got, and the poles and wires that are used at the moment on the coal-fired power station sites … to distribute the energy generated from the latest-generation nuclear reactors,” Dutton said in Sydney on Wednesday.

“We have the ability to do that in a way that renewables can’t.”

This is the concept design of a zero emissions small modular reactor.

Nuclear energy has proven to get electricity prices and emissions down all over the world.

Out of the world’s 20 largest economies, Australia is the only one not using nuclear energy or moving towards it.… pic.twitter.com/BN00QxQMmd

— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) June 19, 2024

Going nuclear will require lifting bans on the energy source, setting up potential battles with the states, where some political leaders were quick to rule it out.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he didn’t believe it was possible to build a nuclear reactor in the Hunter Valley under current legislation.

“We’ve got our ban in place,” he said.

“If there’s a constitutional way for a hypothetical Dutton government to move through the state planning powers, I’m not aware of it, but that’s probably a question for him to answer.”

Another Labor premier, Queensland’s Steven Miles also signalled a fight.

“We know that nuclear reactors are four to six times more expensive. So think about that. That means your electricity bill could go up four to six times to fund these nuclear reactors that the LNP wants to build in Queensland,” he said.

“That is not to mention how future generations – my kids, your kids – will need to manage dangerous radioactive nuclear waste, forever. That’s what that plan means.”

On Tuesday, leader of the Queensland Liberal National Party David Crisafulli – who is tipped to win October’s state election – said he would not repeal the state’s nuclear prohibition.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan described the idea of nuclear energy in the La Trobe Valley as “unfathomable”, while state opposition leader John Pesutto said his party had no plans for it.

Federal crossbenchers were also quick to criticise. Warringah MP Zali Steggall said Dutton’s “nuclear fantasy” would be a disaster.

“This is a Trojan horse policy to keep coal and gas firing,” she wrote on X.

❌Dutton’s nuclear fantasy a disaster for the Aust economy, energy prices & climate action. This is a Trojan horse policy to keep coal and gas firing. The longer we delay sensible action, the more costly this will get‼️ #voteno #auspol
Full statement: https://t.co/CQGxtFD59y pic.twitter.com/AAI9waIuGX

— 🌏 Zali Steggall MP (@zalisteggall) June 19, 2024

Another Teal MP, Allegra Spender in Wentworth, suggested the idea was irresponsible.

“Analysis of 16,000 mega projects around the world found nuclear power and storage projects are the most likely to suffer massive cost blowouts,” she wrote on X.

“Solar, wind, and transmission are the least likely. We need to invest taxpayers’ money in a responsible way.”

Independent ACT senator David Pocock posted a list of questions that remained unanswered.

Things we don’t know about the Coalition’s nuclear delay tactics:

1. The cost
2. Where the $ would come from
3. Where waste would go
4. Whether the plants are feasible
5. How states will be convinced
6. Who will pay the price of higher bills
7. What impacted communities think
😬

— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) June 19, 2024

The Coalition says nuclear power plants will form part of an “energy mix” that also includes gas and renewables, which it claims will help provide a round-the-clock source of baseload power.

But even if the opposition wins government, according to its plan, it will take 10 to 12 years from a decision for nuclear electricity to enter the grid with the first two nuclear plants expected to be completed between 2035 and 2037.

This meant Australia could still reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Dutton said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slammed the plan and said it overlooked Australia’s renewable energy potential.

“It’ll be a taxpayer-funded nuclear fantasy,” he told ABC radio.

“Here in Australia, we have the best solar resources in the world.

“This makes no economic sense, as well as leaving us in a position of energy insecurity because of the time that it will take to roll out a nuclear reactor.”

The latest edition of the benchmark GenCost report, released by the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator in May, found the cost of building a large-scale nuclear power plant would be at least $8.5 billion.

Dutton, who has called that report “discredited”, said he would have more to say about his plan’s cost “in due course”.

-with AAP