Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Peter Dutton is “hiding from scrutiny” of his $330 billion nuclear energy plan by releasing it weeks before Christmas.
Mr Albanese also criticised the bill for the opposition leader's plan, telling journalists it would be fully funded by taxpayers "because no private sector investor will go anywhere near this".
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Friday announced the nuclear energy plan, which he said would lead to cheaper electricity for Australians.
Setting up seven reactors across five states would cost each of Australia's 13.6 million taxpayers more than $24,200.
There was no price modelling for power bills.
The prime minister condemned the policy's modelling, arguing public investment in “the most expensive form of energy” would drive up electricity costs, not lower them.
“That’s why he didn’t come out with a single costing of what difference it would make for consumers,” Mr Albanese told journalists on Saturday.
The coalition's nuclear energy plan will likely be beset with hurdles and delays, a leading environmental law expert warned.
The current prohibition on nuclear generators was the first obstacle and opposition from the states would create a "bunch of issues", Australian National University professor Andrew Macintosh said.
The premiers of NSW, Victoria and Queensland have said they would not repeal their states' prohibitions on nuclear power plants, and WA Premier Roger Cook slammed the Liberal policy costings as a "con".
The federal government could acquire land to build the facilities, Professor Macintosh said, but that could be an "enormous debt" and wouldn't solve the gap caused by ageing coal-fired power stations retiring within the decade.
"If you're wanting to make nuclear energy a large part in our generation capacity in the national electricity market, then you're going to have to do something to bridge the gap," he said.
"It's going to take a long time before you even get the first nuclear generator, let alone a whole fleet that's able to basically trade one for coal. We shouldn't kid ourselves."
Nuclear energy generation would be up to twice as expensive as large-scale solar, according to analysis by the national science agency CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
The coalition has attacked Labor over high energy bills as households struggle with cost of living pressures.
The nation's coal power plants would be shut by 2038, according to the operator.
Prof Macintosh said decarbonisation of the power grid was going to cost a lot of money regardless, but generation from renewables was cheaper.
