NSW: Reactor safety inadequate, says retired engineer

AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2001
NSW: Reactor safety inadequate, says retired engineer

SYDNEY, Dec 17 AAP - A former engineering director at Australia's only nuclear reactor
said today that safety measures at the existing facility were inadequate and did not cover
the public.

Speaking at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA)
public forum on the building of a new reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights, Tony Woods said
the facility "didn't have adequate protection for anything".

"Our (safety) procedures are so cumbersome, and they'd take so long to implement, they'd
be ineffective," he said.

Mr Woods, who retired in 1991 after 30 years service at Lucas Heights, said the "safety
culture" at the facility had to be greatly improved.

He said the current Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)
safety plan only considered plant employees and did not include any measures for the public.

Mr Woods said the Sutherland Shire Council's contingency plan anticipated many emergencies,
including earthquakes, but did not consider a nuclear accident.

"If you look at the plan regarding the public, there's no mention of the reactor. It's
like it isn't there," he said.

He cited the example of a reactor employee who was refused admission to Sutherland
Hospital, one of the nearest medical facilities to Lucas Heights, because of a wound that
was contaminated.

Mr Woods urged planning for a worst-case scenario of complete core meltdown plus major
containment failure, including evacuation procedures and prior distribution of medicines.

He also said a smaller research reactor like the one planned would be more vulnerable
to an act of sabotage or terrorism because it isn't as well fortified.

"The main reason a terrorist would attack this (facility) is not to kill a lot of people
but to terrify them," he said.

"If we've got a good plan we can protect people ... that's more effective than fortifying
the reactor."

But there was one very significant positive in Mr Woods' presentation - nuclear accidents
were not as catastrophic as people imagined.

He said research showed that many of the illnesses anticipated after the accidents
at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, including leukaemia, did not manifest themselves amongst
the population as expected.

Thyroid cancer was the only illness that boomed after Chernobyl, which Mr Woods said
could be nipped at the bud by using iodine tablets.

He said the biggest health hazard in the event of a reactor accident was the psychological
effect of the incident, and better communication was needed.

"People don't have the correct perspective as far as radiation is concerned," he said.

"You'd go in an get an X-ray and you wouldn't ask what the dosage is.

"I think ANSTO has a problem in so much as it likes to sugar-coat its information.

"They feel the public can't take information that could cause them concern.

"I think (consulting and informing external bodies) is better for the project and better
for everyone."

AAP wo/arb/las/bwl

KEYWORD: REACTOR FORUM

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