(571.5427) Jim Green - The federal government and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), operator of the Lucas Heights nuclear site in Sydney's southern suburbs, plan to shut down the existing HIFAR reactor - Australia's only operating reactor - when the new reactor is operating in 2005-06. Argentinean company INVAP won the contract to build the new 20-megawatt, A$300 million (US$168 million) reactor.
Two years ago a seismic study by a New Zealand organization, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (IGNS), commissioned by the Australian government, found that ANSTO had seriously underestimated the potential impact of an earthquake. The IGNS calculated a peak ground acceleration of 0.41 g compared to ANSTO's estimate of 0.23 g. In 2001, a review of ANSTO's environmental impact statement for the new reactor by the International Atomic Energy Agency recommended more information be gathered on the risks of an earthquake affecting the site.
John Loy, chief executive of the regulatory agency, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), said that last September he asked ANSTO to investigate the site for fault-lines and that "... this, of course, could not be done until excavation itself was authorized through the issuing of the construction license." A reactor construction license was issued by ARPANSA in April. The seismic fault-lines were discovered in June 2002 by IGNS, which had been contracted by ANSTO to study seismological risks. IGNS is conducting further studies.
A researcher at the Seismological Research Centre, Wayne Peck, said that because Sydney lies in the middle of a tectonic plate, it was not prone to regular earthquakes: "The rate of activity is low but we have seen major earthquakes in the area." Australia's most damaging recorded earthquake hit Newcastle, 110 km north of Sydney, in 1989, killing 13 people. In 1999, an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale was recorded near Sydney. In October 2000, an earthquake measuring 2.2 occurred just 8 km from the reactor. In February 2002, an earthquake of 3.8 magnitude was recorded 80 km south of Sydney. Geoscience Australia recorded more than 200 earthquakes in Australia during 2001 - about 50 more than the previous year - including two measuring more than five on the Richter scale.
The discovery of the fault-lines has led to renewed calls for the reactor project to be cancelled from the Australian Greens, the Australian Democrats, Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Sutherland Shire Environment Center, and People Against a Nuclear Reactor among other groups.
Giji Gya from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW - the Australian affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) said: "This fault-line discovery points to the lack of scrutiny over the siting-approval process and the process of this replacement reactor project in general. As MAPW keeps saying, there are better - and safer - alternatives."
MAPW's Dr. Bill Williams, who participated last year in an inquiry conducted by ARPANSA on the application for a license to build the new reactor, said: "A reactor sitting on a fault-line has the potential of breaching the reactor containment, resulting in dispersal of toxic radiation into the neighborhood. You do not site a nuclear reactor on a fault-line. End of story."
Dr. Williams added, "The cracks under the reactor are nothing compared to the cracks that we see in arguments justifying the need for the reactor. Australia would be better to spearhead R&D into the already well-developed alternatives to produce isotopes needed for nuclear medicine."
Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, leader of the Australian Democrats, said in response to the discovery of the fault-lines: "It beggars belief that this kind of basic information was not found as part of the lengthy, but obviously not very effective, assessment and approval processes. The Australian community was told that safety and health concerns are paramount, while the reality is entirely different. Lucas Heights may be the most mismanaged development in Australia."
ANSTO spokesperson Peter Russell said the new reactor "will proceed at the site - there's no doubt about that." Federal science minister Peter McGauran said: "These issues will be quickly resolved and the project will proceed post haste. ... It appears that everything was done by the book and this setback was entirely unpredictable."
ARPANSA has not ruled out construction of the reactor at the current site. John Loy said: "The age [the geological time period during which the fault occurred] and extent [length and depth] of the fault are not known at this time. Judgments about the implications for the siting and design of the replacement research reactor are premature until further information is available. ... A number of hold points result from a condition of license that ANSTO must gain my approval prior to the construction of an item important for safety. As a consequence, ANSTO are unable to proceed with construction of the foundations until I have given my approval."
Once IGNS has completed its report into the fault-lines, ARPANSA will have the report peer-reviewed, possibly by the Australian Geological Survey Office.
ARPANSA's lack of independence has been a major bone of contention throughout the debate over the planned new reactor. ANSTO chief executive Helen Garnett was directly involved in the selection of the chief executive of ARPANSA. Moreover, ANSTO and ARPANSA are linked by a "revolving door"- six former ANSTO staff members now work for ARPANSA.
[More information on the Lucas Heights reactor debates can be found on the web site www.geocities.com/jimgreen3]
Source and contact: Jim Green, 18 Rose St, Chippendale, NSW 2008, Australia Tel +61 2 9211 0805 E-mail: jimgreen3@ozemail.com.au Web: www.geocities.com/jimgreen3
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