‘Dying’ town of LIthgow NSW set for a nuclear power plant if Anthony Albanese loses the next election

A ‘dying’ town that was once hugely important to Australia’s mining industry is set to become one of the locations for one nuclear energy if the coalition wins the next federal election.

Of Peter Duton want Australia to use nuclear energy and Anthony AlbaneseWith the government pursuing a renewable-focused energy transition, elections within a year will judge these competing visions.

Until now the Coalition has been very cagey about where it would locate nuclear power stations, but Shadow Energy Minister Ted O’Brien let the cat out of the bag on Wednesday by not denying a suggestion from 2UEs. Ben Fordham.

“You’re going to put one in Lithgow. You have an old coal-fired power station in Lithgow. You’ve got the transmission lines and it’s the talk of the town in Lithgow at the moment,” Fordham said.

Mr O’Brien tried to move away from directly naming the N.S.W city, 90 miles west of Sydneyas one of the first nuclear cabins of this rank, but he did not deny it either.

A ‘dying town’ that was once hugely important to Australia’s coal mining industry will be home to a nuclear power station if the Coalition wins the next federal election. A nuclear power plant is depicted

“Whether (there) or elsewhere in Australia, one of the things we’ve learned along the way is that communities that have experience hosting coal-fired power stations have a high energy IQ, they get it,” said Mr O’Brien.

“And they understand the importance of 24/7 baseload power.”

Fordham also pressed Mr O’Brien on why the Coalition is taking so long to say exactly what its plans are and continue to say this will happen ‘in due course’.

‘You started talking about nuclear energy less than two years ago. So how long do you need to announce a policy,” Fordham asked. “Is it sometime in 2024?”

The Shadow Minister eventually relented and said there would be an announcement ‘certainly this year, I can promise you that’.

In a sign that the Coalition is coordinating its attack on Labor over net zero emissions targets, Nationals leader David Littleproud also spoke about nuclear power stations on Wednesday.

Mr Littleproud said the factories would be on National Party seats and Australians would “very soon be aware of the specific locations” being proposed.

When asked if he would like to go to the next election with nuclear power plants proposed in his party’s seats, he said ‘the answer is yes’.

“We will be very fair and honest. They will be in National Party seats,” he told ABC Breakfast.

“We have said very clearly that they will be limited to where there are existing coal-fired power stations, so we do not need the additional 28,000 transmission lines to connect the renewables.

‘It is clear: there are twelve to fourteen existing coal-fired power stations across the country, so we can limit ourselves to that.

Nationals leader David Littleproud (pictured) also spoke about nuclear power stations on Wednesday, saying many of them would be housed in National Party seats.

The town of Lithgow in New South Wales’ central west (pictured) is tipped as one of the first sites for a nuclear power station if the Coalition wins the next federal election

‘But you will know the specific locations very quickly. We look you straight in the eye and are honest.’

Littleproud said he and Liberal Leader Peter Dutton “will not hide anything” from the public.

Mr O’Brien echoed the Nationals leader, saying: ‘we are only looking at coal-fired power stations… they are ideal locations’.

“We also announced that it is part of a balanced mix, using renewables and gas,” he said.