DEAR News Of The Area,

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck Muswellbrook again last week and led to a sudden power outage affecting 2,732 homes and businesses.

Had there been one of Dutton’s nuclear reactors operating in the Muswellbrook area, such an uncontrolled power outage would have disrupted the reactor cooling system pumps, rapidly leading to a loss-of-coolant accident affecting the highly radioactive nuclear reactor core.

Loss of coolant results in sudden uncontrolled overheating and potential core meltdown.

The reactor pipes and containment would be damaged and massive volumes of hazardous radionuclides would have leaked out into the atmosphere near Muswellbrook and nearby rivers and farmlands.

Such a nuclear disaster would endanger hundreds of thousands of residents of Muswellbrook and the Upper Hunter Valley, exposing them to carcinogenic radiation for weeks or longer.

Who will protect us from such unforeseen nuclear accidents?

Who will insure our health and our homes and farmlands?

Nuclear reactors are too risky and unpredictable to ever be considered for Australia.

Regards,
Kenneth HIGGS,
Raymond Terrace.