DEAR News Of The Area,

I am not convinced by Mr Robert Harding’s (Letters, 5 December 2024) attempt to downplay the risks and consequences of nuclear accidents caused by sudden offsite power outages.

The reality is that loss of external power to a nuclear reactor is a serious problem, which can cause a loss-of-coolant-accident and uncontrolled overheating of the reactor core, leading to fuel rod damage, radioactive leaks and possibly a core explosion or meltdown.

A power outage can also cripple cooling pumps for the “spent fuel pond”, where tonnes of highly radioactive fuel rods must be stored for up to 30 years.

If the cooling pond water evaporates, fuel rods can rapidly overheat, burst into flame and scatter massive clouds of radioactive gases and particulates into the surrounding air, soil and waterways.

This is not a trivial issue, even though Mr Harding claims that “modern” nuclear plants have “solved” the power cuts problem with onsite generators.

The fact is that any emergency cooling system can fail due to human error, stress corrosion, cracked joints and welds, or design faults.

Furthermore, “modern” emergency cooling systems are still experimental and unproven in a real-world disaster context.

Nuclear reactors have serious safety problems with dreadful consequences, which we don’t need or want in Australia.

Regards,
Kenneth HIGGS,
Raymond Terrace.