Abstract
Between 2022 and 2040, the remaining five coal-fired power stations in NSW are scheduled to close. The plan in the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap is to replace this lost generation with solar and wind in remote Renewable Energy Zones, but would Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) on retiring coal-fired power station sites be a better option?
Tony will examine the status of electricity supply in NSW and look at the nuclear option. Re-using the existing infrastructure makes the best use of the assets and reduces costs but, more importantly, retains jobs and keeps the local communities alive, facilitating a “Just Transition”. Tony will also answer the questions “What about safety?” and “What about the Radioactive Waste?”
Tony Irwin FIEAust MIET FAIE CPEng
Tony Irwin is a Chartered Engineer, Technical Director of SMR Nuclear Technology Pty Ltd and Chair of Engineers Australia Sydney Division Nuclear Engineering Panel.
Tony worked for British Energy in the UK for more than thirty years commissioning and operating 8 nuclear power reactors.
In 1999 he moved to Australia and joined ANSTO where he managed fuel strategies and provided advice on nuclear issues to the Federal Government. He was subsequently appointed as Commissioning Reactor Manager and then the first Reactor Manager of ANSTO’s new OPAL research reactor. Tony is now a Consultant. Tony is an Honorary Associate Professor and principal lecturer for Nuclear Reactors and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle at the ANU.
