Former Experimental Test Pilot Explains CSIRO Modelling On Cost Of Nuclear

Senator Fawcett provides a detailed response to the CSIRO's GenCost report on the cost of nuclear energy.
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[@ShupNride]

Maybe if the politicians didnt give away $111billion in tax free gas we mignt actually have some money like Dubai

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

👍

[@stephenrose9154]

Well stated Senator. You have my support.

[@ianbutler6583]

Finally a politician looking at what is best for the Australian people instead of just playing politics.

[@BrigitteTucker-vn9bf]

What do you know about nuclear reactors and radioactive waste?

[@Geoff-m7j]

⁠@@BrigitteTucker-vn9bf Instead of asking the question, “What do you know about nuclear waste “‘ , how about telling us what you know., if you know!

[@simonrooney7942]

@@ianbutler6583 outstanding

[@Wandjina104]

@user-jt1gm4qh4x OK. Too expensive and too long to develop. Enjoy the 20 year wait. Paying for it in advance every step of the way.

[@mavphill]

@@BrigitteTucker-vn9bf about as much as you. Which is why we have "experts" rather than vested interests. FYI- nuclear technology has come a very very long way from the scare mongering of chernobyl...

[@torrespearls381]

Thank you for this much needed input to the non debate with this labor government.

[@UsefulAlien]

Clever guy with a proven technical background! Peter Dutton has good friends!

[@sadlerau1]

This video needs to be sent to EVERY mainstream news room in the country. But we know what will happen, even if they bothered to watch and learn, they'd ignore it because it doesn't fit their agenda.

[@johnnywarbo]

You are right about that and I couldn't have said it better.

[@trg9765]

They WON'T put it on M S M DOSEN'T fit the CLIMB MATE KuIt AGE ENDER

[@some_doofus]

⁠@@trg9765except it does (though I certainly don’t agree with labelling it the “climate cult agenda”). Nuclear power would not only be the cheapest way to generate electricity, it would also be the most effective way to decarbonise the energy sector. The reason left wing parties tend to disagree here is simply because they genuinely (and mistakenly) believe renewables are the cheaper and faster option so they believe all funding should go to that option. If they can be convinced that nuclear is the best path to decarbonisation (which it is) then support for nuclear energy becomes bipartisan, like it is in the US and several other countries. And the way to do that is through education, intellectual honesty, and proper in depth systems modelling like what was done by the IEA.

[@PhotoVideoTechOz]

CSIRO used Korea which is one of the cheapest cost for nuclear construction, using the global standard for infrastructure modelling analysis and it still came out as the most expensive power

[@warrickdavis71]

Totally agree, espically the 4:00 mark "the consultant for the CSIRO got their figures from the internet" WTF

[@Hardwick989]

Thank you for standing up and proving labour wrong again. They should be quiet about that now and lie about the next topic.

[@carolb9549]

I agree with you senator, nuclear energy is the smartest and cheapest option. Australia has the big resources to power nuclear, we are in the best position to own our own setup without relying on other countries. Renewables are held captive to good weather, as a growing country we need reliable endless power to keep the lights on.

[@Bluepillphil-d1w]

much more than keep the lights on. Power goes down in one of those skyscrpaers and the lifts and aircon goes off you are in serious trouble.

[@markrowley8177]

It must be obvious now that we don’t own our resources. Our government sold that off long ago. It won’t be long before we don’t own the land that our homes are on. Ask the residents of Caloundra

[@BCzepa]

decriminalize the use of hydrides outside of nuclear energy storage and you have a physical solid chemical "battery" of energy that can be transported in bulk and deployed for use at the source, weather that be EV or power plant, or isolated area. they can be created from methane at gas plants instead of just burning it off in a 'flare' too. baseload power SHOULD be produced by offshore gas (not fracking) or mined coal, we can produce additional power from renewables, and when renweables are producing too much power, use them to create hydrides out of seawater, im sure it could be done. you also have seafloor airbags for energy storage. the government is controlled by too many corporate interests and doesnt consult with people who have an understanding of modern technology.

[@Boombah2323]

The CSIRO has lost its way just like the ABC….if you need a pipe fixed you get advice from a plumber… we need engineers and scientists to give the Australian public guidance on this important topic… I fear for my children’s and their children’s future if this lunacy is allowed to continue!

[@robertsmtube]

Engineers and Scientists did give the Australian public a report on the real costs of generation. But it didn't agree with Dutton so he said it was 'discredited' (Before he even read it). Knowing full well that most people don't know what it says or what he is talking about. This idea that if someone disagrees with you they are part of a conspiracy it is ridiculous.

[@darrenblack6240]

Excellent work. Keep it coming 💪

[@johnlonghurst9265]

Brilliant. Should be shown to all Australians.

[@NoRegertsHere]

The media is too busy calling political parties extreme right wing

[@DJ99777]

This gentleman speaks so well.

[@captainsensible298]

It's pretty obvious at this stage, after reading some of GenCost myself and observing the blatant bias against nuclear and coal fired power that the document was compiled by ideologues rather than rational engineers and scientists. The CSIRO used to have a great reputation for producing great science with many citations to their scientific staff. After this last debacle, their credibility is in the toilet.

[@simonrooney7942]

funded by govt to support the govt

[@garystrahan4601]

The CSIRO are just using the same reporting process that they use to push anthropogenic climate change

[@soulsurvivor8293]

Please provide cited examples of bias in their working and/or results. As I too have looked it over, used the equations and methods provided with other variables (such as a longer time scale). I found their work to be accurate, objective and consistent with other findings elsewhere. Please provide where and/or how you believe they have not followed an objective & scientific method. Perhaps you're misreading it or made a miscalculation in your own review of the data.

[@johnbennetts5598]

Don't put all of the blame on CSIRO. They and AEMO were subject to directions to follow Minister Mad Dog Chris Bowen's policies. It is all coming unstuck now, just in time for the next Federal election campaigns.

[@factnotfiction5915]

@@soulsurvivor8293 > I found their work to be accurate, objective and consistent with other findings elsewhere. Well, compare the CSIRO GenCost to Lazard's report. Here is one example: * CSIRO inputs: NPPs have 50% c.f. and 30 year lifetime * Lazard inputs: NPPs have 90-95% c.f. and 80 year lifetime Of course, we don't know if Lazard is more or less correct than CSIRO, but you can't call these 2 inputs 'consistent'. Likewise we don't find many other aspects of the 2 reports or the outputs of the 2 consistent. I will say, I find the Lazard report much more professional and easier to understand than CSIRO. Lastly, I can accept CSIRO GenCost report for what it is, but determining capital costs to build a plant isn't the same as determining the retail price - especially as in Australia (per AEMO) generation is only 40% of the retail bill. Clearly your Labor politicians are purposefully conflating those two costs.

[@archcollie5708]

Fantastic speech. Well done, Senator.

[@petermarsh4993]

Why is it that members of the Liberal and National Parties speak like intelligent beings and Labor like a bunch of braindead thugs? Well done Senator Fawcett. Keep the pressure on. We should have a referendum on whether to go Nuclear. It is far more important than “The Voice”.

[@charlestym6322]

Your funny

[@coconuciferanuts339]

Labor,since Hawke have been at best dismal. But they still appeal to the simple minded.

[@tonywilson4713]

Well the answer is that BOTH of our main stream parties have a couple of people who can speak clearly WHILE THE REST OF THEM ARE braindead thugs. I'm also an engineer (aerospace) but I have worked as a control system engineer across a range of industries including manufacturing, mining, water treatment and I have even worked on a power station. I saw the ABC interview with the head of CSIRO that's here on KZbin and I am disgusted with CSIRO because they are pushing a narrative rather than science. I am also equally disgusted with the Liberals for their nuclear plan because they are also pushing a narrative. Trapped between these 2 packs of brainless thugs are you, me and 26 million other Australians. That interview is titled "Are politicians listening to the science in the energy debate?" and its David Speer interviewing Dr. Doug Hilton. Here's a couple of points: 1) There modelling team was primarily a group of economists NOT engineers. 2) Dr. Doug Hilton is a Microbiologist NOT and engineer and that's why he gets things wrong. 3) There claim of 53% capacity which is the percentage of the theoretical limit is a bold faced lie. Calder Hall the very first commercial reactor that ran from 1956 to 2003 had a capacity factor of 79% (see Wikipedia). So if the first generation could do 79% you'd think the latest could do better. 4) They also modelled the power stations as running for 30 years. Calder hall ran for 47 and it was a first generation power station. So to model them on 30years is also a bold faced lie. Of Note in that discussion: David Speers repeatedly claims that some nuclear power stations have run for 80years. How can that be when the first commercial reactor only started in 1956 which is 68 years ago? How can you have reactors running for 80 years when the industry is only 68 years old? *NOW FOR THE LIBERAL LIE and its a HUGE LIE.* They have repeatedly claimed that there wont be cost blow outs but also don't yet have the costs. Those are incompatible claims. The actual costs are very simple to estimate. In engineering we have to start with an absolute known. You can't use wishful thinking you must start with something that is known. Right now there are 5 options - South Korean, Japanese, American, Canadian and European (French). - The South Koreans were found faking their own safety documentation by the South Korean Government. - The Japanese cut costs and time in the way they built their reactors which was what made Fukushima way worse than it should have been. - The American's have the Westinghouse AP1000 which is what they just built at Vogtle. They were also building 2 more reactors at another plant but due to massive cost blow outs that project has stalled. Go look up "Nukegate scandal" on Wikipedia. - The Canadians have the Advanced CANDU (ACR) design which is their latest iteration of the CANDU series of reactors that run a different fuel cycle than normal reactors. They are generally cheaper and easier to build but it should be noted that NOBODY had bought any ACRs including the Canadians. - The Europeans have the EPR2 which is a French design. 2 have been built (France and Finland) and 2 more are under construction at Hinckley Point in Britain. *So we know these work and we know the price which is AU$35Billion each.* So in light of everything else its what you have to use as a first estimate. The Liberals have said 7 sites and I know those sites. 3 (Loy Yang, Liddell, Eraring) would need 2 reactors each and the other 4 sites 1 each. That's 10 reactors and 10 x 35 is AU$350 Billion. So that's the basic answer AU$350 Billion and the fact the Liberals cannot simply come out and say that only makes them as hopeless that the Labor party. Sorry for the long answer but I am so damn tired of BOTH SIDES doing nothing but lie and lie and lie to the Australian people. We need both sides to stop there political BS and stop misleading us.

[@pederjohansen2029]

​@@charlestym6322what is wrong with nuclear. And please use facts and not emotions. And by the way Labor haven't been a party for the working man in 40 years, I don't think many, if any, have ever done any real work in their life.

[@alanc6781]

​@@pederjohansen2029 You are so right.

[@Chad-mf5vo]

For the first time in 40 years voting, I will be changing my vote from Labor to the Liberal party based mainly on this issue. For my sake, my kids and for my country to remain competitive.

[@Antechynus]

Liberals are as bad as labour... remember Morrison you dimwit?...

[@Bluepillphil-d1w]

well thought

[@gaynamedpaulie]

No, one nation. Labor Liberal are the same.

[@Yourbrightspot]

You should remember Howard before you change your mind.

[@Bluepillphil-d1w]

@@Yourbrightspot that’s the past. The now is blackout Bowen and the child must be stopped

[@bobjackson4720]

Labor lies.

[@catherinesarah5831]

Thank you Senator Fawcett. Your findings are very similar to those of Senator Roberts from his recent interchange with the deplorable head of CSIRO. ($1.04M pay check) The conduct of which was intentional criminal fraud. The chair of that Senate committee should have been held in contempt of assisting CSIRO’s fraudulent activity. 🙏

[@NoRegertsHere]

I watched that too. Unbelievable

[@daveyp76]

Thank you Senator Fawcett for highlighting the truth to all Australians.

[@keepitreal2902]

By truth you just mean something that you happen to agree with.

[@tonyswan6834]

What a refreshing video, thank you for your frank and informative talk, now all we need is for Chris bowen to listen, i wont hold my breath for that though.

[@johnnywarbo]

It's not only unaffordable but it is unachievable to run the country on renewables and the labour government as a whole have their heads in the sand thinking this is possible. We also have other groups pushing the green (monetary) energy ticket (not mentioning any names) and we will see where that goes. Let's see if Sarah fergusan from the ABC runs that article. Thanks Senator.

[@awc900]

Chris Bowen should listen to this but it would likely go in one ear and out the other.

[@robertjbrighton]

Guaranteed, there is nothing between to stop it.

[@batmanlives6456]

In a vacuum, there is no sound !!!

[@RiverWhiskey07]

​@@robertjbrightonA vacuum sucks, so does Boofhead and his bumchum Albo.

[@Geoff-m7j]

He’s too busy parroting the govt’s line as are the rest of his party to hear the most logical discussion I’ve heard.

[@MaryTheuma-kz6xe]

He should be behind bars 🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳😡😡😡😡😡🌹😡

[@snappingclam8801]

Brilliant, thanks very much!

[@CaptainSwoop]

Thank you Sir for your intelligent, objective analysis illustrating the contempt these unaccountable, un-elected, public servants possess for both Government and the Australian people.

[@tbonemc2118]

At least there's one adult in Canberra.

[@tasd5673]

Love it

[@clinnoMx]

Brilliant presentation. Calm, intelligent & effective. 👏👏 Are you running for PM by any chance? If so, could you also pardon David McBride & Richard Boyle for simply sharing the truth? We'd really appreciate that. We need more folks who tell the truth on behalf of the people. Also, how come every time I see or hear any excellent points being made in parliament, there's never anyone there! Where's the rest of our tax dollars, and why are they never around to hear this stuff?!

[@alanc6781]

Well, $40 BILLION goes to the Abo's. Every year. And growing.

[@handlethejandal]

Brilliant. A politician talking sense

[@Samael_Monasteriis]

I live off grid using renewables & batteries. Attempting to run the entire country using this technology will ruin our economy by forcing us to outsource our power generation to foreign nations every decade. They have a vested interest in insuring that we don't succeed at generating our own power using our own resources. Which is exactly why we need to do it. We need to keep those trillions inside Australia.

[@Ulrich_von_Jungingen]

I do too. My smallish system cost our family over 40k. This realistically will have to be spend on every household and business at least. There is no way 100% renewable energy has been costed to any semblance of reality and why haven't the people been consulted on what is a realistic amount to pay for a system and pay per kWhr. Labor with their pathetic 32% primary vote act like they have a mandate for every dumb, woke garbage idea they dreamt up, no doubt to enrich themselves and their crony corporate supporters.

[@Geoff-m7j]

Absolutely, totally agree from my own experience of running a small off grid solar and battery powered system. You need double the capacity required when the days following a sunny day turn overcast.

[@jonathanparle8429]

@@Geoff-m7j I sat down and worked it all out. I created a complex spreadsheet that took me a week and it includes all the data related to solar energy at my geographic location by hour for every day of the year as one of the input datasets. I worked out I would need solar arrays and batteries so massive that energy prices would need to be around 250% higher than they are even today merely to break even on my investment. And even then, the feed in tarrif would have needed to be at least 14 cents and it has been down at 5 cents for years now.

[@6braceface]

The same could be said for a nuclear approach. We don’t have an industry or any commercial capability to build and run nuclear power stations. We don’t even refine uranium, we just dig it up and ship it. There’s a lot of countries and companies licking their lips at the opportunity to extort this energy strategy if we go down that road, especially with the knowledge that government owned infrastructure won’t have the same cost constraints as a privately funded venture into nuclear power.

[@troyjohnston7454]

Last I looked my bill comes from a foreign company

[@theodociocozanitis5437]

Well researched well spoken made lots important comments hope they take him seriously in what he said

[@billivory8582]

Thanks Senator. Its a relief to hear from someone who isnt trying to ‘situate the appreciation’.

[@kpopandotherplaylists2518]

The former head of Australias nuclear reactor said that the Csiro point blank refused to talk to him AT ALL... for years ... HMM ...Scientific? and yet, " no expertise "

[@lubanskigornik282]

The French are not pinching themselves, they have in construction currently 6 new and planned 8 more nuclear power plants. It should be noted that they currently have 96 reactors - some of them are undergoing modernization and renovation. financing 'nuclear' give return on investment 80 times whyle wind or solar less than 5. Coal power station return on investment is 50 times. this are official approx figures.

[@coconuciferanuts339]

Some good points there. Nuclear is the way for Australia to power it's way industrially & domestically. Labor politicians are the dunce in the classroom.Poor exam results,!@#$%=fail.Labor = failure to load .

[@dexblack]

return on investment to whom precisely? the people who subsidise those profits. nope

[@boggisthecat]

France had extremely low cost of uranium, due to essentially stealing it from West Africa. That has now changed, and with standard market rates the cost of this input for fission reactors has blown out. The UK, which has never had a source for theft of uranium, has costs per MWh of fission at around seven times that of offshore wind. In Australia, onshore wind and solar are both well under the lowest cost for fossil fuel generation. Building out a fission industry would be insanely expensive and take decades, during which renewable sources will continue to drop in cost and increase in efficiency.

[@gooble69]

@@boggisthecat "In Australia, onshore wind and solar are both well under the lowest cost for fossil fuel generation" This is the crackpot maths we're used to from the Left. How much does a kWh of solar generation cost at night time or wind when the wind stops blowing? I assume you'd like to use electricity then as well? "during which renewable sources will continue to drop in cost and increase in efficiency." But still not be available at night time or when the wind stops blowing. Put down the bong, it's rotting your brain. The cost of Snowy 2.0. will cost the same as a Nuclear plant and deliver 1/100th the amount of energy. But what is maths when you are sniffing unicorn farts...

[@scottwhat3362]

@@boggisthecat Another one that doesn’t understand the distinction between generation costs and whole of system cost. Renewables win a battle on generation, but then lose the war horribly on full system costs. That is why every country that has increased their renewables percentage has has increased cost at the meter.

[@riordan39]

This guy talks logic and make sense

[@cbrhubs9245]

CSIRO should be ashamed

[@soulsurvivor8293]

For what? Giving us the truth and all the tools & equations to test their conclusion or even make adjustments to inputs to test for other results? Amusingly, they don't even touch on the international and domestic political hurdles that need to be jumped to even think about setting up a civil nuclear industy. All the CSIRO did was a levelled cost of the comparative power generation methods and published the results & means in which they arrived at those results. It's 100% publicly available information and because they included the equations and methods used we can test the results ourselves & even alter the inputs to see other results based on those alterd variables. It's straight forward science and mathematics, not one bit is anything but hard science & mathematics. It's literally an objective account of what was being compared that anyone can reproduce or input different factual variables as required to check results using relevant data inputs. Sorry that reality doesn't fit your agenda mate.

[@paythepiper6283]

@@soulsurvivor8293 The Gencost report was written by an economist, the CSIRO report was written by people who have zero knowledge in generating or distributing electricity. That's reality champ. The coalition are listening to people like Dr Adi Paterson former head of ANSTO. So please tell us again who is being objective?

[@johngreenwood7425]

​@@soulsurvivor8293 it has been demonstrated that the assumptions CSIRO used in the that report were not consistent with known facts and actually were distorted to overstate the cost of nuclear and understate the cost of wind and solar generation.

[@soulsurvivor8293]

​@@johngreenwood7425 1979-1985 PhD in Materials Engineering, bit dated but sure. 1984 Program for Managment Development at Harvard Business, this foreshadows his entire career path. 1984-2001 at CSIR as a specialist researcher in ceramic materials. Additionally ran Research, the Materials division and served as an Executive from 1994. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is based in South Africa. 2001-2005 at the Department of Science and Technology (South Africa) as the COO/DDG 2006-2008 at PBMR (Pty) Ltd as the General Manager of Bussiness and operations. PBMR (Pty) Ltd is a South African company that developed the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor from 1994-2009 Generally speaking the base Pebble Bed Reactor designs are a serious hazard due to High operational Temperatures of 750⁰C for modern Chinese designs using Helium Cooling to the 940⁰C the older South African PBMR and German AVR designs ran at. It was abandoned by most sane nuclear physicists due to numerous safety issues and various high risk potential radiological contamination vectors. Thus why it's only being pursued by the Chinese to a practical degree. An American company is revisiting it as a GenIV design concept, no major break throughs have been made to my knowledge. It basically a deadend technologically, only Thorium proponents seriously consider it....which tells you everything. 2008/9-2020 (Roughly 11-12 years) as the CEO and a Board Member of ANSTO, essentially just set him up to meet all his future employers really. 2021-2023 at AMCI Aquisition Corp on the Board of Directors in Executive Management. AMCI was folded into LanzaTech as AMCI Aquisitions Corp II (A Blank Check company expressly formed for the Merger) under the AMCI Group which are investment conglomerate of 20+ other companies. LanzaTech are a CCU&S (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage) with an emphasis on Utilisation. As we know, CCU&S is still an utter pipedream at it's best. The proposed technology on offer from the "Technology Licensing Model" of LanzaTech is mostly just the most rudimentary and fundamentally flawed on the market. Basically it's a 'Greenwashing' company. 2021-present at AdvanCell Isotopes Pty Ltd as a Part-Time Board Member, Radiopharmacetical Company. Obvious divestment choice for the former CEO of ANSTO, nuff said. 2022-present at HB11 Energy as a Part-Time Board Member. Interesting choice of using Lasers to fuse Hydrogen to Boron-11. Sadly there are still no promising results so far for such concepts for Hydrogen Storage, the general premise uses far too much energy in the laser getting the Hydrogen in and out compared to the stored energy of the Hydrogen itself. Ammonia is still the most practical high density to energy consumption medium for Hydrogen storage to date. Its simple and can even be achieved using electrolysis. Interesting but mostly pointless endeavour to fuse Hydrogen to Boron-11 with of all things a Laser. And last but not least The Principal and Founder of Siteva Consulting 2021-present. Dr. Adrian "Adi" Paterson sure is a busy guy with numerous vested interests in seeing a civil nuclear industy established here in Australia. Sadly, conflict of interest is sort of an important factor in judging someone's perspective views on a subject. Old Adi here has several personal, professional and international interests that directly conflict in this case. No wonder the Coalition like him so much that they neglect to disclose his history outside of ANSTO. Spent his formative years in South Africa on an unfinished prototype design only to fall into the CEO position of ANSTO due to it and his Business Managment Education. Conversely, Paul Graham graduated his degree in Economics with Honours in 1995. Then spent literally the next 24 years at the CSIRO (1996-present) predominantly as a researcher and eventual chief economist specifically in the field of national and international energy markets (Everything from electricity to the various fuel resources including Uranium, Coal, Oil and Gas). Given he has never worked outside of our own independant government funded Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, he has no conflicts of interest by comparison. He was also not the sole contributor to the GenCost report. Dr. Jenny Haward BSc (Honours), Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology and PhD in Chemistry. Post-Doctoral research fellow of Biocomputing Group. Systems Analyst and Stratigic Analyst in the Defence Science and Technology Group in the Department of Defence, Australia. 2008-present Research Scientist to Principal Research Scientist at the CSIRO. Literally a lifetime of serving Australia in various Scientific roles. No conflicts of interest for her either. The data is from the CSIRO's own observations & research along with annually updated capital costs estimates sourced through AEMO. AEMO commissioned Aurecon to provide an update of current generation & storage costs and proformance characteristics. Aurecons comprehensive report includes a far wider scope of data than the GenCost report uses. However the full Aurecon Report is publicly accessible on the same page as the GenCost report. The thing is it includes all the data needed to do your own calculations of LCOE over different time periods and worstsenario put in the best and worst case scenario for all energy technologies. So yes, I stand by everything I have said rather confidently.

[@soulsurvivor8293]

​@@paythepiper6283 1979-1985 PhD in Materials Engineering, bit dated but sure. 1984 Program for Managment Development at Harvard Business, this foreshadows his entire career path. 1984-2001 at CSIR as a specialist researcher in ceramic materials. Additionally ran Research, the Materials division and served as an Executive from 1994. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is based in South Africa. 2001-2005 at the Department of Science and Technology (South Africa) as the COO/DDG 2006-2008 at PBMR (Pty) Ltd as the General Manager of Bussiness and operations. PBMR (Pty) Ltd is a South African company that developed the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor from 1994-2009 Generally speaking the base Pebble Bed Reactor designs are a serious hazard due to High operational Temperatures of 750⁰C for modern Chinese designs using Helium Cooling to the 940⁰C the older South African PBMR and German AVR designs ran at. It was abandoned by most sane nuclear physicists due to numerous safety issues and various high risk potential radiological contamination vectors. Thus why it's only being pursued by the Chinese to a practical degree. An American company is revisiting it as a GenIV design concept, no major break throughs have been made to my knowledge. It basically a deadend technologically, only Thorium proponents seriously consider it....which tells you everything. 2008/9-2020 (Roughly 11-12 years) as the CEO and a Board Member of ANSTO, essentially just set him up to meet all his future employers really. 2021-2023 at AMCI Aquisition Corp on the Board of Directors in Executive Management. AMCI was folded into LanzaTech as AMCI Aquisitions Corp II (A Blank Check company expressly formed for the Merger) under the AMCI Group which are investment conglomerate of 20+ other companies. LanzaTech are a CCU&S (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage) with an emphasis on Utilisation. As we know, CCU&S is still an utter pipedream at it's best. The proposed technology on offer from the "Technology Licensing Model" of LanzaTech is mostly just the most rudimentary and fundamentally flawed on the market. Basically it's a 'Greenwashing' company. 2021-present at AdvanCell Isotopes Pty Ltd as a Part-Time Board Member, Radiopharmacetical Company. Obvious divestment choice for the former CEO of ANSTO, nuff said. 2022-present at HB11 Energy as a Part-Time Board Member. Interesting choice of using Lasers to fuse Hydrogen to Boron-11. Sadly there are still no promising results so far for such concepts for Hydrogen Storage, the general premise uses far too much energy in the laser getting the Hydrogen in and out compared to the stored energy of the Hydrogen itself. Ammonia is still the most practical high density to energy consumption medium for Hydrogen storage to date. Its simple and can even be achieved using electrolysis. Interesting but mostly pointless endeavour to fuse Hydrogen to Boron-11 with of all things a Laser. And last but not least The Principal and Founder of Siteva Consulting 2021-present. Dr. Adrian "Adi" Paterson sure is a busy guy with numerous vested interests in seeing a civil nuclear industy established here in Australia. Sadly, conflict of interest is sort of an important factor in judging someone's perspective views on a subject. Old Adi here has several personal, professional and international interests that directly conflict in this case. No wonder the Coalition like him so much that they neglect to disclose his history outside of ANSTO. Spent his formative years in South Africa on an unfinished prototype design only to fall into the CEO position of ANSTO due to it and his Business Managment Education. Conversely, Paul Graham graduated his degree in Economics with Honours in 1995. Then spent literally the next 24 years at the CSIRO (1996-present) predominantly as a researcher and eventual chief economist specifically in the field of national and international energy markets (Everything from electricity to the various fuel resources including Uranium, Coal, Oil and Gas). Given he has never worked outside of our own independant government funded Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, he has no conflicts of interest by comparison. He was also not the sole contributor to the GenCost report. Dr. Jenny Haward BSc (Honours), Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology and PhD in Chemistry. Post-Doctoral research fellow of Biocomputing Group. Systems Analyst and Stratigic Analyst in the Defence Science and Technology Group in the Department of Defence, Australia. 2008-present Research Scientist to Principal Research Scientist at the CSIRO. Literally a lifetime of serving Australia in various Scientific roles. No conflicts of interest for her either. The data is from the CSIRO's own observations & research along with annually updated capital costs estimates sourced through AEMO. AEMO commissioned Aurecon to provide an update of current generation & storage costs and proformance characteristics. Aurecons comprehensive report includes a far wider scope of data than the GenCost report uses. However the full Aurecon Report is publicly accessible on the same page as the GenCost report. The thing is it includes all the data needed to do your own calculations of LCOE over different time periods and worstsenario put in the best and worst case scenario for all energy technologies. So yes, I stand by everything I have said rather confidently.

[@brettbridger362]

thanks. Reasoned and balanced look (for a change).

[@Geoff-m7j]

Thank goodness for such an intelligent expose.

[@IanBrodie-bg1lu]

well researched and clearly and concisely presented,Senator Keep up the good work.The C.S.I.R.O. are taking taxpayers money to do a lousy job.They were fired from one important job that I know of for incompetence.

[@danielmaher964]

This is why we need the senate

[@marka1142]

How very interesting. Why is this not front page news?

[@ArthurDonnelly-p3e]

Thank you Senator Fawcett, well spoken and so informative, probably why Labour is absent again.

[@mersinalou7397]

Listen to this man then listen to Bowen .. Bowen is way out of his depth.

[@damienwiggett9302]

Finally someone who speaks staight facts❤🎉

[@01WazFromAus]

Dave run for PM, you'll get my vote !

[@jas_2067]

If Peter Dutton explained the whole of his augment like Senator Fawcett, I believe Australian people will be more readily accept nuclear powered generators.

[@RogerBlakeway]

Don’t forget,Dutton is a bit of a war hawk and is all in with AUKUS. Nuclear power generation is a great thing, but has he an alternative agenda regarding the US push for conflict with China. I hope not.

[@ianstrawbridge1620]

we do do need or want U238 based power, Thorium and molten salt is a solution

[@nickclarke5089]

Maybe Dutton could start by releasing the detail of the policy.

[@moparmadman1134]

We had cheap energy with coal and only emitting carbon dioxide plant food for a green environment

[@DanWhe]

Actually coal fired plants release more radioactive substances into the environment than nuclear reactors ever do.

[@Bluepillphil-d1w]

make this THE ENERGY ELECTION. You will win.

[@leighagnello7993]

Basicly what he's saying is aboish all commities like CSiRO. They know nothing so they paid someone who does know so they can develop a report. When the goverment could do that themselves. This whole thing is stupid. You need to rid the BAN on nuclear. Then call up some nuclear power plant developers and get quotes make them compete for the contract.

[@pederjohansen2029]

Or the TGA, EPA and many others.

[@alanc6781]

How sad it is that once upon a time CSIRO used to be regarded as a wonderful asset. Like the ABC, really. Dead, but won't lie down.

[@leighagnello7993]

@alanc6781 all of our institutions are being weaponized just like all western countries what they once where is no more. That's why Argentina has abolished them and hopefully USA of republicans win do the same.

[@PeterElla]

great to see someone in Canberra speaking the truth

[@tinmut]

Well done on presenting this research and point of view so clearly

[@knowone353]

A lot of smart people is the field of generation know this and a lot of smart people who are not knew something was a little wrong with the CSIROs conclusion to nuclear generation. Thank you Sen Fawcett for clearing that up. Now I would like to hear from Albanese on the matter. Maybe his slide to the left will prevent him from giving a response.

[@sfincher123]

Fantastic speech

[@aliveRaptor2929]

Thank you for taking up 🙏

[@hughkelly9073]

Yes indeed the cost of 100% renewables (wind and solar) is ridiculously expensive and there may not be enough materials to do it (see Simon Michaux’s work).

[@Yourbrightspot]

What does the sun charge us to produce 1kwh? Why are you paying 40 cents per kWh. Why are you paying for the power generated by your neighbours solar. The cost lie does not fly high.

[@hughkelly9073]

@@Yourbrightspot Energy from the sun powers life and the weather system of Earth. It is free and essential to us all. Also it can be utilised to our benefit. I’m paying the rate I pay for electricity because it is the rate that those who control our electricity system decided that should be the rate. It would be better if I paid my neighbour for any of their surplus energy that I can use - cut out the middle man. Ask any accountant and they are likely to tell you that “profit is a matter of opinion”. It is a matter of opinion because costs can be measured in different ways. There are many lies told so sometimes it is hard to come to the truth especially since it depends on from where the observations or conclusions are made. I trust that answers your questions.

[@scottwhat3362]

@@YourbrightspotCost at the meter are not the cost of generation because you need not just the generation, but the whole infrastructure to keep that powers stable, safe, reliable and from the source to you. Renewables, yes their kw/h can be cheap, but they add multiple times to the cost of everything else. That’s without even getting into the fact you need a redundant second generation system of equal output for stable and reliable power.

[@scottwhat3362]

@@hughkelly9073Power can’t be ‘close enough’, it must be exact correlation between generation and usage every second of the day. Sharing on a grid level even a street level grid, is not as easy as it sounds.

[@Wombat-y7t]

God bless you Senator…….

[@daviddraper5627]

Because it's never part of labor's policy. Let the coalition take it to the people whenever they get in.

[@tg7661]

Can we trust someone who pronounces it nucular instead of nuclear?

[@dexblack]

can we trust someone who is taking donations from the companies touting nuclear and coal energy production?

[@simonharrison9727]

Absolutely well said!!

[@dannytantri4413]

Bravo! Well-researched and excellent delivery!

[@6braceface]

This was a much better video than yesterday. Great references made to your sources. I’ll definitely be having a read through.

[@MalMaso]

David, Detailed yet readily understandable. On the basis of your presentation there will be little appetite for private capital investment into the $1trillion for transmission lines etc. Goodbye Renewables Religion.

[@CC-uq4hu]

Just subscribed thank you Senator looking forward to you asking the correct questions and keeping our government in check❤

[@tippa8282]

👍👏👏👏👏 not hard to see Albo's lying again!

[@kpopandotherplaylists2518]

Australia definitely needs more scientifically literate politicians. ... ...and beurauecrats..... ....and media..... ...and citizens. .. 😢

[@davidmcguren3225]

Brilliant job senator

[@Aussietrev1969]

Well said mate... Great to see someone else in there with common sense!

[@johnephgrave4701]

About time some sensible discussion on nuclear well done

[@Rob15a]

Finally a detailed comment from a reliable sources.

[@anomamos9095]

When costing all this wonderful green energy do they include the land acquisition and remediation costs? The extra infrastructure costs of cabling to the sites? The massive construction costs? The disposal and abysmal recycling costs? The costs of needing to dump unwanted power because the green energy is so intermittent and the traditional power just idling while too much green energy is being produced? The major benefit of nuclear is you can basically just plonk it on the existing sites of coal and gas fired power stations, often while they’re still operating.

[@cheesytravels]

Great job not many people great people challenging the actual process

[@paulblackwood1273]

Fantastic content well presented. Shame that the news outlets don’t want to spread the facts on the cost of rewiring the grid.

[@jeffwarrington4360]

Wow thank you for your presenting the facts, why is our current government burying their head in the sand on this issue, they simply will not listen, a strong leader would welcome the opportunity to soundly research the possibility before outright discounting and these are people of vision who lead our country.

[@colinfielder6695]

How can we ever believe in cheaper power when even if we produce our own, by solar, they want to charge more for that!

[@Yourbrightspot]

Because it's owned by companies. The nuke will also be owned by companies. They need to profit.

[@RichardCostello-wj8gy]

A Politician with an axe to grind, a self deception specialist, ideology of LNP.

[@R0d_1984]

CSIRO wouldn't pass a year 10 science project 40 years ago... We have to have multiple sources, compare and contrast , identify the pro's and con for each, identify the ""best"" taking into account the cost to benefit et al ( a 25 page report, yes really only an initial pre-report, or a summary). I did Enviromental Science in year 11/12; i even looked at thorium reactors... Modelling: garbage in, garbage out; ideology in, ideology out...

[@modelpainter7838]

But it is not cheaper, according to actual multiple qualified individuals and he said nuk-ular multiple times. It is called nuclear, this joker doesn't have a clue. For instance, after around 30 years of operation, nuclear power plants require refurbishment at great expense, particularly in Canada. He is probably aware of solar thermal power, considering he is from SA, but does not want to affirm that this option is cheaper.

[@RogerBlakeway]

Yeah, I remember when SA had a state wide blackout after switching off the last coal fired power station, then had to get power from VIC. Renewables do not have base load capacity to run any sort of industrial venture.

[@modelpainter7838]

@@RogerBlakeway The South Australian blackout of 2016 was a widespread power outage in South Australia that occurred as a result of storm damage to electricity transmission infrastructure on 28 September 2016.

[@Antechynus]

Vote One Nation.

[@archumwelten7135]

So you will go for prime minister, that's what I the people want.

[@nickclarke5089]

Finally, we get to hear from the real experts on Nuclear energy - former test pilots.

[@trn8061]

Nice to see somome talking sense on the topic in Straya.

[@raymondthom1699]

hahahahahahaha. Oh my goodness. The contractor says "We went to the Internet". Our government hard at work.

[@johnmartin8931]

The problem we are seeing is that energy has now become a political issue. Political parties like Labor refuse to acknowledge the physical realities and shortcomings of renewable energy because the science runs contra to their ideology. And if there’s one thing you can say about ideology, it’s that ‘the dream is not the reality’…..

[@matthewcooper4028]

Fantastic speech. I fear however that the emotion triggered by virtuous idealism associated with renewables will still trump science…

[@fyiaustralia9686]

Thank you for analysing the science of nuclear energy. Let's hope rational arguments are the basis of all Liberal Party statements.

[@pawspaws101]

David, sounds like you might have not followed/watched to many or have just become aware of the very obvious issue with these Senate Inquiries & Committees!? Almost ALL of them are Domain Experts being question by Senators that lack any domain knowledge or experience in the domain being scrutinized! And because of that they rarely go into any depth (the format also doesn't allow for substantial fact finding) & answers often wash over senators' heads with little reaction! There function is largely Syntactic Theatre! Not ONLY this nuclear/CSIRO, but virtually ALL of them! Go have a look! I'm baffled at why you're singling out this one? The only logical explanation is that you have knowledge in the matter & that's made the defunction quite stark? Majority of the time we have MP & Senators that LACK tangible knowledge on the matters & portfolios they preside over! It's as good as writing options on pieces of paper, chuck them into the air and throw darts at them to decide results!

[@johnsmith-sg2nm]

Thanks for this video David, your explanation answers many questions. Eloquent as always, Mike and Paula H. S.A.

[@russellcullen9913]

Dutton must grow some balls and pull out of the paris agreement.

[@jeff2tc99]

Excellent

[@mattj5025]

Anyone who has doubts the price, really just has to watch the AMEO dashboard for a day. Tasmania with the highest average renewable power consistently seems to have the highest average buy price for power and the highest imports from other states. The cost of land for wind a solar, while a great idea and always useful, you can’t ignore these still have risks involved. The biggest challenge that still needs to be solved for wind is the disposal of relatively short lived wind turbine towers. One tower and gen set will be replaced three times in my short life. As a young Australian, I’d like to entertain the nuclear power option for Australia. Only by developing new industries and taking industries back (looking at you steel and aluminium) will a country thrive. Thank you senator for a short detailed dive into what the discussion should be around.

[@lckoolg622]

Cheaper electricity means less GST for state criminals. Nuclear power means a reduction of the increase in the 40 BILLION dollars a year sent to overseas wind and solar plants.

[@stephenthompson5852]

Thanks for your presentation. I have a degree in science and mechanical engineering with over 44 years of experience and have been making similar comments to what you have just discussed for several years. I have worked on mega projects around the world some of which involved significant modelling of the process and separate modelling of the financial analysis. Of course assumptions were made initially but the assumptions were replaced with real data from test work, other similar operational plants or historical data. The only assumptions that remained in the modelling were analysed to determine the level of risk before proceeding with the project. The costs were all derived either via historical data and real time costings from contractors and suppliers. The CSIRO don’t have the engineering design and construction experience or real project return data on costings and scheduling to be in a position to be representing themselves as the know all go to organisation for comparing electricity generating costs and price to the consumer. Thank you and continue to expose the government for all their false and misleading narrative on nuclear power.

[@KF-bj3ce]

Well said Senator and thanks. Such a shameful procedure and waste of the taxpayers money. One could even say that the process is corrupted and those hosting it should be procecuted.

[@JasonWhittle1]

CSIRO has just lost a heap of trust and respect. Outsourcing this so poorly is ridiculous.

[@DamienKoulouris01]

If only they were as honest and caring as person such as yourself Sir. It is about time the job gets done properly for the people for the country and not for the profiteering of ex ministers and ex prime ministers. Lovely to hear clear and articulate minister instead of the um’s and ah’s of those that are cheating the people of this once fine country!

[@tommo98765]

Finally, someone is suggesting nuclear. By far best for the planet with current tech.

[@koonitube]

Great breakdown.. highly relevant for Norway as well.👍

[@RosalieMccarthy-dv9eq]

amazing an old fashioned logical conservative evaluation- seeking logic and highlighting contentious matters C Bowen is lost to this approach merely sneer and ignorant adherence to the mantra

[@helgabonello9193]

The truth explained. Will this gov.listen for the future of our country and its people??

[@alanweston4524]

Not much referral to notes, he believes what he is saying. Refreshing to see. Well said Senator

[@brettlord8458]

As always, precise and informative. Thank you

[@Mark_Williams.]

If I lived in SA, I'd be voting this guy back in. Good speech.