The Federal Opposition is doubling down on its nuclear power plans, despite a new report showing renewables are far cheaper.

The CSIRO claims Peter Dutton’s plans would cost at least $8.5 billion, take 15 years to deliver and produce electricity at roughly twice the cost of renewables.

CSIRO Energy Business Chief Economist Paul Graham told Gary Adshead on 6PR Mornings when public infrastructure is tackled for the first time, there’s often an associated cost blowout.

“We know it happens, because it happened with [the] Snowy [Mountains Scheme] 2.0, and we’ve seen it happen with other nuclear projects overseas,” Mr Graham said.

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to back down on the policy, however, telling Gary Adshead criticism of nuclear power’s future is biased.

“They’ve tried to force gas out of the markets at the same time, and are now building a new gas policy; without the people power to support renewables, we will see costs rise,” Mr Dutton said.

Press PLAY to hear Gary’s full interview with Peter Dutton