The federal government has again rejected opposition demands it considers establishing a nuclear power network as ageing coal-fired power stations are shut down.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is due to make a speech on Friday and will reportedly say the government is “mesmerised” by alternative energy sources such as solar panels and should consider building small nuclear reactors.

“If nuclear power is so prohibitively expensive, why are more than 50 countries investing in it, including those with smaller economies than Australia?” Mr Dutton will say, according to The Australian Financial Review.

“Conveniently, the energy minister (Chris Bowen) is reluctant to mention the costs of storage and transmission when he talks about renewables being cheaper.”

Asked if the government supported nuclear power, Labor frontbencher Jason Clare said “no”.

“They cost about $400 billion bucks and take years and years to build,” he told Nine’s Today Show.

“Follow the money …. you can see what’s needed here – as all the old coal-fired power stations shut down, they need to be replaced by something and what the private sector’s doing is investing in the cleanest form of new energy and that’s renewable energy.”

— AAP