Nuclear reactor fuel 'flawed from start' ABC Science Dani Cooper 5 May 2008 - "A design flaw in fuel for Australia's only nuclear reactor is partly responsible for the shutdown of the facility in July last year, just months after it was officially opened.

Dr Greg Storr, who heads reactor operations for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says an 'oversight' at the commissioning stage of the A$400 million (US$376 million) Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) reactor left it vulnerable...............

.............Nuclear campaigner for Friends of the Earth, Dr Jim Green, says many critics of the Lucas Heights reactor would have preferred it was never turned back on

Green, who completed his doctorate on medical isotope supply options, says Australia has no need to manufacture its own medical isotopes as there is surplus supply worldwide.

He says research and development funds should instead be directed towards developing a cyclotron facility that can also produce the necessary isotopes without the safety risks and nuclear waste issues..........".

gathered by the thousands on Thursday in protest...................

..........The Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI) says the quake that occurred in the Java Sea last August, which reached 7 on the Richter scale, confirms that the area is unsuitable for the construction of a nuclear power plant. The organization argues the planned development of a nuclear power plant in Semenanjung Muria, Central Java will increase the disaster risk because there are almost no areas in Indonesia that are free of earthquakes. .……

……….it isn't only on Java people are concerned.

Australian critics fear a catastrophic accident would have a major impact on nearby countries, of which they are one.

Clive Hamilton, an Australian who has just spent two years as a senior economic and environmental adviser to the National Planning Agency in Jakarta, said one of his main concerns was that "Indonesia does not, at the moment, have the technical expertise to safely operate nuclear power plants."

He said Indonesia was "an extremely unstable area geographically."

If nuclear power were developed there, he added, then Australia and other nearby countries, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Papua New Guinea, "should be very concerned because there is the potential of a major accident."

Southeast Asia's Looming Nuclear Power Industry Japan Focus Geoffrey Gunn 11 Feb 08 "East and Southeast Asia is the only region of the globe where nuclear power generation is presently growing significantly.

......The high risks and vulnerability of nuclear power plants in geologically unstable zones was dramatically highlighted by the impact of an earthquake upon the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture on 16 July 2007. ..................…………….Back in 1994 major criticism of the project came from Australian experts in the field (although not the Australian government) owing to concerns of a potential accident, especially as monsoon winds would expose northern Australia to radioactive fallout.

On the other hand, it would not be surprising if Indonesia had concerns that Australia would acquire or produce nuclear weapons, especially as successive conservative governments held to that option through until the early 1970s, a debate revisited in recent years As Richard Tanter has summarized, 'The consequences of Indonesia and Australia pursuing their somewhat non-rational approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle could have very negative consequences for people who are already suspicious of each other'......................"

Nuclear fallout warning for northern Australia Herald Sun By Karen Michelmore - September 28, 2007 - "NORTHERN Australia would be at risk of nuclear fallout if Indonesia's proposed nuclear power station suffered a major failure, environmentalists have warned.The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said a university study 13 years ago - when Indonesia last raised the prospect of a nuclear power station - found the north of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland "would be at substantial risk of receiving radioactive fallout" in the event of a major reactor failure..................The study - An Analysis and Visualisation of the Risk Associated with the Potential Failure of Indonesian Nuclear Reactors - found that radioactive gases could reach Australia within a few days, particularly if the event occurred in summer. .............................

.Australia's nuclear science chief Dr Ziggy Switkowski yesterday said he had no concerns about the safety of an Indonesian nuclear power plant, saying that in an earthquake he would rather be in a nuclear facility than any other power plant..................." (well it would be a quicker death - C.M.)

Nuclear reactor plan on shaky ground The Age 14 Oct 07 - "With Indonesia planning to build nuclear power plants in an area prone to earthquakes, many are worried about the risks to Australia and the region. Tom Hyland reports.

Last month, 100 clerics and scholars from one of the world's largest Muslim organisations, in the heart of the country with the world's largest Muslim community, met near Mount Muria in Java for two days of deliberations.

The unprecedented gathering considered Indonesian Government plans to build four nuclear power plants at the foot of Mount Muria, on the world's most populous island...................It also sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" that is prone to devastating earthquakes and volcanic eruptions...................

..................At the end of their deliberations, drawing on Islamic traditions of jurisprudence, the scholars issued a fatwa, a religious legal edict, declaring the Muria nuclear plans haram - forbidden............................they ruled the likely benefits were outweighed by the potential damage. Their main concern was safety....................

..............Unease over the plan is not confined to Indonesia......................................Australia is concerned about potential risks, with studies showing a disaster in an Indonesian reactor would send massive fallout across northern Australia..................................only last year an earthquake in southern Java killed more than 5000 people.

Critics also point to Indonesia's poor safety record in industry and transport, a lack of transparency in Government decision-making and the potential for corruption in a project worth about $US10 billion ($A11.1 billion).

The potential harm was highlighted by research by ANU experts, who warned in a 1998 report that a failure in a reactor on Java 'could be a disaster' for northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and South-East Asia. .A failure during the summer monsoon would send radioactive gas across northern Australia within days, the report said. The north of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland would be at 'substantial risk' of receiving potentially devastating fallout...........". .

South East Asia grapples with nuke power safety THE BRUNEI TIMES Ramthan Hussain 22-Aug-07 - "…………………………….For countries like Indonesia, located like Japan on the 'Ring of Fire' that causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the possibility of a natural disaster looms large.

For others like Thailand, environmental opposition is a major issue, while Vietnam has struggled in the past to fund major energy projects…………………..The energy officials from Japan, which draws a third of its power from nuclear plants but has a history of safety scandals, as well as China will be on hand to lend advice……………

……The IAEA estimates that building a nuclear power plan can be up to three times more costly than a fossil-fuelled plant and take at least two more years to build.

Demand for tighter safety norms in the wake of recent incidents, regular maintenance checks and the disposal of nuclear waste add to the financial costs.

Cage of steel stops jumbos - Daily Telegraph By Sue Dunlevy - THIS steel cage is all that stands between Sydney and a nuclear disaster. "Nicknamed the.'chip basket' it looks like an architectural feat but it is really a shield to protect the new Lucas Heights nuclear reactor from a terror attack from the air.

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation chief Dr Ian Smith revealed yesterday the cage was incorporated into the new nuclear reactor after the September 11 terror attacks in the US.The steel would slow down the engine and stop an aircraft penetrating the concrete roof over the reactor, he said…………………

……Safety is paramount because everybody in the nuclear industry realises they are only one accident away from losing public confidence in the safety of nuclear energy, he says.

Dr Smith says a radioactive terror threat is more likely to come from a hospital than a nuclear plant.'One of the potential terror threats is a dispersal device which spreads radioactivity,' he said. 'Where that radioactivity most likely will come from is a discarded source in an irradiation machine in a hospital'

He said such an accident had already occurred in Brazil when people with no terror intent had taken a caesium chloride source out of a hospital radiator.Three people died as a result of the incident, which also spread radioactive waste

.He said Australia and international nuclear bodies were trying to secure these sources of radiation to ensure they did not fall into the wrong hands."