Replacing Australia’s coal-fired power stations with small modular nuclear power reactors would cost AUD387bn (€233bn, $249bn), according to climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen.

The high cost makes such a transition, advocated by the country’s opposition, a “unicorn and a fantasy,” Bowen, a member of the rulingLabor Party, said on ABC Radio National on Monday (18 September).

Australia would need 71 small modular reactors to replace the 21 GW of coal-fired power in the system, he said, discussing analysis from the Climate Change Department. “I can’t think of a worse fit for Australia than nuclear power,” Bowen said.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has previously suggested that Australia “could convert or repurpose coal-fired plants and use the transmission connections which already exist on those sites”.