'Couple of small modular reactors': A new pitch for nuclear power in New Zealand
ACT Party leader David Seymour opened a debate on whether small modular reactor (SMR) technology should prompt New Zealand to revisit its 30-year nuclear-free policy. The government has instructed the Energy Ministry to conduct a formal technical review.
RNZ Business · NinetonoonAt a Wellington press briefing, Seymour said: 'Next-generation SMR technology is different from conventional reactors; two 300-megawatt units could cover about 9% of the country's base-load demand.' Energy Minister Simeon Brown stressed that the review would be 'evidence-led, not taboo-led'. Environment Minister Penny Simmonds said the 1987 Nuclear Free Zone Act was 'open to democratic debate'.
Labour opposition spokesperson Megan Woods responded at a Beehive briefing: 'There is no case to put on hold New Zealand's NZ$12 billion plan for renewable infrastructure.' University of Wellington energy-policy professor Janet Stephenson told RNZ that SMR build costs are 'estimates, not proven, through to the 2030s'. Former leader James Shaw, who met the Otago miners' union at Brunner Town Hall, said: 'It is not a logistically effective scenario.'
The review report will be presented to Cabinet within eight months, with three public regional consultations during that period. A potential nuclear-power decision could become a referendum issue ahead of the 2028 election. This is not investment advice.
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