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Print Chapter 6 (PDF 577KB) | < - Report Home < - Chapter 5 : Chapter 7 - > |
Despite popular misconceptions, nuclear power has an unmatched safety record relative to all base load fuels. It is far safer per megawatt hour generated than hydrocarbon fuels …1
… as a comparative figure, between 10 000 and 15 000 coal miners are killed per annum around the world. China contributes largely to that, with over 6 000 deaths per annum in their coal mines. In comparison, in power stations, coal-fired power stations since 1997 have killed 6 500 people; natural gas, 1 200 people; hydro, 4 000 and maybe more … the nuclear industry has killed 31 people.2
If you stood on the boundary of Lucas Heights for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and breathed it all in, you would get about the same [radiation] dose as flying from Sydney to Melbourne …3
The new millennium will see the increasing use of nuclear science and technology in every field of human endeavour. The immense benefits far outweigh the risks. And the risks of radiation must be assessed on a scientific basis and with informed realism … The manipulative assessment of nuclear risk must not deprive humanity of these immense benefits.4
Key messages
Introduction
Health effects of ionising radiation and international standards for control of exposure
The LNT hypothesis and radiation hormesis
Australia’s national regulatory framework
Safety and health issues associated with the uranium industry in Australia
Radiation exposure to workers and the public from uranium mining
Risks associated with transport of uranium in Australia
National radiation dose register and long-term health monitoring
Incidents at Australia’s uranium mines
Radiation exposure from the nuclear fuel cycle
Occupational exposures
Exposures to the public
Nuclear safety
Reactor safety
Global nuclear safety regime
The Chernobyl accident
Nuclear power compared to other energy sources
Terrorism and the safety of nuclear facilities
Depleted uranium
Radiation and public perceptions
Conclusions
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Key messages — |
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Introduction |
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6.1 | In this chapter the Committee examines the second key concern raised in opposition to the civil nuclear power industry—the safety of nuclear fuel cycle facilities, and particularly the health risks to workers and to the public from exposure to radiation from uranium mining and nuclear power plants. |
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6.2 | The chapter presents evidence in relation to the following themes in turn:
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Health effects of ionising radiation and international standards for control of exposure |
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6.3 | The Committee introduced the concepts of ionising radiation and radiation exposure (or ‘dose’) at the beginning of the previous chapter. It was explained that ionising radiation, to which all living organisms are constantly exposed, has energy capable of causing chemical changes damaging to living tissue. Ionising radiation is of four types (alpha and beta particles, gamma rays and neutrons) and includes x-rays and the radiation from the decay of both natural and artificial radioactive substances. |
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6.4 | Exposure measures the effect of radiation on substances that absorb it and is expressed in several ways, to account for the different levels of harm caused by different forms of radiation and the different sensitivity of body tissues. Among these measures is the ‘equivalent dose’, which refers to the effect of radiation exposure on human tissue and is measured by the ‘Sievert’ (Sv). The ‘effective dose’ takes into account what part of the body was exposed to radiation, because some organs are more sensitive to radiation than others. The effective dose is also measured by the Sievert.5 |
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6.5 | The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reports that the total average effective dose received by the world population from all sources of radiation (natural and artificial) is 2.8 millisieverts (mSv—one thousandth of a Sievert) per year. Over 85 per cent of this total is from natural sources (primarily from buildings/soil, cosmic radiation, radon gas from the Earth and present in the air, and food) . Of the sources of ionising radiation arising from human activities (i.e. artificial sources), the largest contributor is medical exposure from x-rays (0.4 mSv or 14 per cent of the total dose). Occupational exposure, discharges from the nuclear industry and fallout from former atmospheric nuclear weapons tests accounts for approximately a quarter of one per cent of the total world average radiation exposure (0.0072 mSv).6 The contributions of natural and artificial sources to the world average annual effective radiation dose are listed in table 6.1. |
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6.6 | The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) explained that it is well known that doses of ionising radiation can cause harm. Extreme doses of radiation to the whole body (around 10 Sv and above), received in a short period, will cause so much damage to internal organs and tissues of the body that vital systems cease to function and death may result within days or weeks. Very high doses (between 1 Sv and 10 Sv), received in a short period, will kill large number of cells, which can impair the function of vital organs and systems. Acute health effects, such as nausea, vomiting, skin and deep tissue burns, and impairment of the body’s ability to fight infection may result within hours to weeks. The extent of damage increases with dose. These types of radiation effects are referred to as ‘deterministic’ effects.7 Table 6.1 Worldwide average annual effective radiation doses from natural sources and human activities in year 2000
Source UNSCEAR, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Report to the UN General Assembly , 2000 , Volume I , pp. 5, 8. |
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6.7 | The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA or ‘the Agency’) explains that deterministic effects can be identified clinically to be the result of radiation exposure. They only occur if the dose or dose rate is greater than some threshold value, and the effect occurs earlier and is more severe as the dose and dose rate increase.8 |
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6.8 | While high radiation doses such as those mentioned above can cause harm, ARPANSA explained that there is continuing uncertainty about the effects at low doses. Doses below the thresholds for deterministic effects may cause cellular damage, but this does not necessarily lead to harm to the individual: the effects are said to be probabilistic or ‘stochastic’ in nature.9 |
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6.9 | The IAEA explains that stochastic effects are not certain to occur, but the likelihood that they will occur increases as the dose increases, whereas the timing and severity of any effect does not depend on the dose. Because radiation is not the only known cause of most of these effects, it is normally impossible to determine clinically whether an individual case is the result of radiation exposure or not. |
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6.10 | The most important of the stochastic effects of radiation exposure is cancer. Ionising radiation is known to play a role in inducing certain types of cancer, for example by introducing mutations in the DNA of normal cells in tissues. These mutations can allow a cell to enter a pathway of abnormal growth that can sometimes lead to the development of a malignancy. Apart from cancer, the other main late effect of radiation is hereditary disease caused by genetic damage.10 |
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6.11 | It is known that doses above 100 mSv, received in a short period, lead to an increased risk of developing cancer later in life. Epidemiological evidence from survivors of the atomic bombs in Japan shows that, for several types of cancer, the risk of cancer increases roughly linearly with dose, and that the risk factor (which is the lifetime risk or radiation detriment assumed to result from exposure per unit dose) averaged over all ages and cancer types is about one in 100 for every 100 mSv dose.11 |
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6.12 | ARPANSA stated that at doses below 100 mSv the evidence of harm is not clear cut. It was observed that while some studies indicate evidence of radiation-induced effects, epidemiological research has been unable to establish unequivocally that there are effects of statistical significance at doses below a few ten of millisieverts. Given that no threshold for stochastic effects has been demonstrated, and in order to be cautious in establishing health standards, the proportionality between risk and dose observed at higher doses is presumed to continue through all lower levels of dose down to zero. This is called the linear, no-threshold (LNT) hypothesis and it is made for radiation protection purposes only.12 |
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6.13 | There is evidence that a dose accumulated over a long period carries less risk than the same dose received over a short period. Except for accidents and medical exposures, doses are not normally received over short periods, so that it is considered appropriate in determining standards for the control of exposure to use a risk factor that takes this into account. While not well quantified, a reduction of the high-dose risk factor by a factor of two has been adopted internationally, so that for radiation protection purposes the risk of radiation-induced fatal cancer (the ‘risk factor’) is taken to be about 1 in 20 000 per mSv of dose for the population as a whole.13 |
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6.14 | If the LNT hypothesis is correct, any radiation dose carries some risk. Therefore, measures for control of exposure for stochastic effects seek to avoid all reasonably avoidable risk, which is referred to as ‘optimising protection’. The optimisation approach is underpinned by applying dose limits that restrict the risk to individual to an ‘acceptable’ level.14 |
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6.15 | The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has established recommended standards of protection (both for members of the public and radiation workers) based on three principles:
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6.16 | ARPANSA noted that determining what constitutes an ‘acceptable’ risk for regulatory purposes is a complex judgement. However, the ICRP’s recommendations, which have in part been derived from studies of the Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs, have in general been internationally endorsed. |
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6.17 | The International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (BSS), published in 1996, are sponsored by the IAEA and five other international organisations including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).16 The BSS, which are based primarily on the ICRP system of radiological protection described above, set out detailed requirements for occupational, medical and public exposures, and specify dose limits and exemptions. They also specify requirements for ensuring the safety of radioactive sources and for dealing with nuclear emergencies. IAEA Safety Guides give more detailed guidance on how the requirements should be met in particular situations.17 |
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6.18 | The BSS specifies that the additional effective dose above natural background and excluding medical exposure, should be limited to the following prescribed levels:
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6.19 | Citing a report by the ‘European Committee on Radiation Risk’, which is an organisation established by the Green Group in the European Parliament, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) argued that the dose limits prescribed by the ICRP were ‘unacceptable’ and that the total maximum permissible dose to members of the public arising from all practices should not be more than 0.1 mSv, with a value of 5 mSv for nuclear workers.19 |
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The LNT hypothesis and radiation hormesis |
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6.20 | Several submitters, including the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), Mr Justin Tutty and Dr Helen Caldicott argued that there is ‘no known safe level at which radiation does not damage DNA and initiate cancer.’20 |
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6.21 | The MAPW (Victorian Branch) cited an article entitled Risk of cancer after low doses of ionising radiation, published in the British Medical Journal in June 2005. The article published the results of a study which sought to provide estimates of the risk of cancer after protracted low doses of ionising radiation, and involved a retrospective study of cohorts of workers in the nuclear industry (excluding uranium mining) in 15 countries. The study claimed to have been the largest ever conducted of nuclear workers, involving some 407 000 monitored workers. The report found that 1–2 per cent of deaths from cancer among the workers may be attributable to radiation. The results were said to indicate that there is a small excess risk of cancer, even at low doses and dose rates typically received by nuclear workers in the study. However, it was concluded that these estimates are higher than, but statistically compatible with, the risk estimates used for current radiation protection standards.21 |
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6.22 | In contrast, some submitters argued strenuously that very low doses of radiation may in fact have beneficial consequences for human health and questioned the appropriateness of the LNT hypothesis for radiation protection policies at these lower doses. Professor Ralph Parsons , a former President of the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE), former Member of the Uranium Advisory Council and past Chairman of the Australian Ionising Radiation Advisory Council, argued that there is evidence that low doses of radiation may in fact be beneficial to human health, an effect known as radiation hormesis:
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6.23 | Emeritus Professor Peter Parsons, also a former President of AINSE, submitted that the LNT model does not accord with effects on human health since, it was claimed, low doses of radiation protect against the harmful health effects observed at high doses. Specifically, it was argued that a low dose of radiation may stimulate DNA repair and the immune system, leading to protection against the deleterious health effects of radiation at higher exposures.23 Consequently, it was argued that the LNT hypothesis is not an appropriate basis for policies of radiation protection for low doses:
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6.24 | It was noted that background radiation in Australia is around two mSv per year. In contrast, in geological outliers elsewhere in the world, background exposures can be over 50 times higher. It was argued that hormetic affects of ionising radiation extend over this elongated range, although additional demographic research would help to quantify this conclusion. It was concluded that:
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6.25 | Professor Parsons also argued that the low risk associated with radiation exposure in nuclear power generation needs to be compared with the very serious health risks associated with global warming:
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6.26 | Despite these observations about radiation hormesis, ARPANSA stated that there is some epidemiological evidence that there are risks to health from lower doses of radiation, down to about 20 mSv. While the evidence of health effects from doses lower than this is uncertain, ARPANSA submitted that the ‘safest view is that the effect is linear down to very low levels.’27 That is, that the LNT hypothesis is the most prudent basis for radiation protection policy. |
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Australia’s national regulatory framework |
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6.27 | Established under the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 (ARPANS Act), ARPANSA is responsible for protecting the safety and health of people, and the environment, from the harmful effects of ionising and non-ionising radiation. |
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6.28 | Among its other functions, ARPANSA seeks to:
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6.29 | The ARPANS Act establishes the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ARPANSA (currently Dr John Loy) as the regulator of: the construction and operation of nuclear installations or prescribed radiation facilities; and dealings with radiation sources by ‘controlled persons’, which are Commonwealth entities (Commonwealth Department, agency or body corporate or Commonwealth controlled company) or Commonwealth contractors. |
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6.30 | While ARPANSA does not have a direct role in regulation for radiation protection of current uranium mining in Australia, which is a responsibility of the state governments, it plays a major part in establishing the national framework for radiation protection applying, inter alia, to uranium mining and milling. Regulation for radiation protection in the mining and milling of uranium, as for radioactive waste management, takes place primarily through state/territory legislation. Radiation protection provisions are principally based upon national codes of practice and standards listed below, which in turn draw upon the international guidance described above.29 |
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6.31 | The ARPANS Act has established a Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council and a Radiation Health Committee. The Council has the functions of identifying emerging issues and matters of major concern to the community and advising the CEO on them, while the Radiation Health Committee’s functions are to:
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6.32 | The members of the Radiation Health Committee are: the CEO of ARPANSA; a ‘radiation control officer’ from each state and territory; a representative of the Nuclear Safety Committee (also established under the ARPANS Act); a person to represent the interest of the general public; and up to two other members. |
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6.33 | ARPANSA publishes a Radiation Protection Series to promote practices that protect human health and the environment from the possible harmful effects of radiation. The Series includes all radiation protection Codes of Practice, Safety Guides and Recommendations. |
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6.34 | The Radiation Health Committee has recommended that the international radiation protection standards described above be adopted in Australia. The radiation protection principles and recommended standards for Australia are given in ARPANSA/National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) Radiation Protection Series Number One: Recommendations for Limiting Exposure to Ionizing Radiation and the National Standard for Limiting Occupational Exposure to Ionizing Radiation (republished 2002).31 |
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6.35 | In addition, a Code of Practice and Safety Guide forRadiationProtection and Radioactive Waste Management in Mining and Mineral Processing (2005) provides a uniform framework for radiation protection in the mining and mineral processing industries in Australia, as well as for the management of radioactive waste arising from mining and mineral processing. Compliance with the Code is a requirement of authorisations issued by the NT Government or licences by the SA Government for the mining of uranium.32 Dr Loy explained that the Code and Safety Guide refect the radiation protection principles outlined above:
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6.36 | The transport of radioactive materials in Australia, including uranium, is addressed in a code of practice for the safe transport of radioactive material which adopts international transport requirements. |
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6.37 | The UIC explained that responsibilities for administration of the Code are held by relevant agencies in the states and territories. This includes ensuring that the basic radiation exposure standards are complied with, day-to-day oversight of the general occupational health and safety requirements at mine sites, and regular reporting of monitoring results.34 |
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6.38 | In August 1999 the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference (AHMC) endorsed the development of a National Directory for Radiation Protection, which is intended to provide an agreed overall framework for radiation safety, including both ionising and non-ionising radiation, together with clear regulatory statements to be adopted by the Commonwealth, states and territories. The Directory is intended to be the means for achieving uniformity in radiation protection practices between jurisdictions. The AHMC agreed that, following consideration and approval of the provisions, the regulatory elements of the Directory shall be adopted in each jurisdiction as soon as possible. The first edition of the Directory was approved by Ministers in July 2004. APANSA explained that it is hoped that the second edition of the Directory, planned for completion in 2006, will incorporate the new Code and deal with matters relevant to mining and minerals processing.35 Dr Loy explained that:
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Safety and health issues associated with the uranium industry in Australia |
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Radiation exposure to workers and the public from uranium mining |
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6.39 | Mining and milling of uranium ores can lead to external and internal exposure of workers and the public to radiation. External exposure results from exposure to gamma rays from the radionuclides in the ore as it is mined and processed. Internal exposure arises from the inhalation of radon gas and its decay products and of radionuclides in the ore dust. ARPANSA explained that the extent of internal exposure will depend on the ore grade, the airborne concentrations of radioactive particles (which will vary with the type of mining operation and the ventilation) and the particle size distribution. The total internal exposure is generally of greater importance in underground mines than in open-pit mines.37 |
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6.40 | Several submitters opposed further uranium mining on the basis of radiation exposures and other health effects, with the MAPW (WA Branch) arguing that: ‘The health consequences of uranium mining and nuclear power are on their own enough reason to spurn any increase in uranium mining/nuclear power.’38 Mr Daniel Taylor claimed that: ‘By allowing the mining and export of uranium, the Australian government is liberating vast quantities of radiation’.39 |
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6.41 | Dr Helen Caldicott claimed that, in the past, one third of uranium miners died of lung cancer:
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6.42 | Similarly, Ms Janet Marsh claimed that:
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6.43 | The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) called for an end to uranium mining, stating that:
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6.44 | Similarly, Dr Gavin Mudd submitted that:
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6.45 | The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC), representing the Mirarr people, Traditional Owners of the land on which the Ranger mine is located in the Northern Territory (NT), submitted that many of the Indigenous people near the mine are fearful that the bush food and land is being contaminated, and that people living downstream of the mine may face risks of contamination:
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6.46 | In contrast, the Mr Ian Hore-Lacy, General Manager of the Uranium Information Centre (UIC), argued that:
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6.47 | More specifically, the UIC argued that
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6.48 | The UIC also argued that uranium mining does not discernibly increase the amount of radiation to which members of the public are exposed, including communities living near uranium mines. |
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6.49 | The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) submitted that:
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6.50 | Similarly, Summit Resources submitted that:
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6.51 | In terms of the actual radiation doses received by uranium mine workers, ARPANSA submitted that Australian data reported to the UNSCEAR for 1991–1994 and reported in UNSCEAR’s report to the UN General Assembly in 2000, shows that the average annual effective dose to measurably exposed workers from uranium mining was 1.43 mSv, down from 4.11 mSv reported for 1985–1989. The world average reported for 1990–1994 was 5.39 mSv. The average annual effective dose to measurably exposed workers from uranium milling in Australia was 0.55 mSv for 1991–1994, down from 3.36 mSv for 1985–1989. The average dose reported worldwide for 1990–1994 was 1.25 mSv 49 |
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6.52 | ARPANSA’s Personal Radiation Monitoring Service (PRMS) has published the annual photon (i.e. external) doses monitored by the PRMS during 2004 for uranium mining, as listed in table 6.2. These results show that most uranium mine workers are receiving external radiation doses below 2 mSv with a maximum dose of 7.7 mSv for miners and 2.9 mSv for mill workers. Table 6.2 Annual external radiation doses received by Australian uranium mine workers in 2004
Source ARPANSA, Submission no. 32 , p. 10. |
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6.53 | The UIC likewise submitted that radiation dose records compiled by mining companies have shown consistently that mining company employees are not exposed to radiation doses in excess of the regulatory limits. It was argued that the maximum dose received in Australia is about half the 20 mSv per year limit. |
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6.54 | Radiation monitoring at the three operating uranium mines and in the surrounding areas shows the following radiation exposures for 2005:
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6.55 | The lower dose figures for Beverley are largely explained by the nature of the mining operation. Heathgate Resources, owners of the Beverley mine, explain that because Beverley is an in-situ leach (ISL) operation, the reduced dust and absence of exposure to ore means greatly reduced radiation exposure to workers and the public. Radon, the gas released into the atmosphere in underground and open cut mines is less prevalent in an ISL mine. This is because the ore is left in-situ and not exposed. There is no dust associated with the mining process and the ore is not crushed or ground in processing. There are no tailings dams or waste rock-piles, nor are there any ore stockpiles at Beverley.53 |
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6.56 | The results for Australia’s uranium mines indicates that, based on current data, exposure for workers is well under half the prescribed annual (average) limit for workers of 20 mSv. Furthermore, the radiation exposure for the public in the vicinity of the uranium mines is also far below the prescribed level of 1 mSv. Indeed, at Beverley, the nearest members of the public received a dose less than one hundredth the prescribed limit in 2005. |
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6.57 | Furthermore, the UIC argued that doses are minimised by programs of eduction and training, as well as engineering design of mining and processing operations. Among the exposure management techniques to protect workers, UIC and the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) pointed out that:
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6.58 | The Committee notes that in relation to the hazards associated with mining and milling uranium, the seminal Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry (the Fox Inquiry report) also concluded that:
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6.59 | Mr Andrew Crooks argued that the Australian Government should seek the adherence to international safety and environmental standards by those countries with uranium resources, so that the competitiveness of Australian producers is not threatened by an ‘uneven playing field’ in these matters.56 |
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Risks associated with transport of uranium in Australia |
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6.60 | As noted in the previous chapter, the transport of radioactive material in Australia, including uranium oxide, is conducted according to the Australian Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (2001), which effectively adopts international transportation requirements established by the IAEA.57 The Code has been adopted by all the states and territories with the exception of Victoria, which ARPANSA notes is now moving to adopt the Code. Among other elements, the Code establishes: provisions about a radiation protection program; emergency response; quality assurance; compliance assurance; requirements for packages (e.g. transportation casks) and definitions of package types.58 |
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6.61 | Responsibility for enforcement of requirements for the physical protection (PP) of nuclear materials in Australia is the responsibility of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO) under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987. |
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6.62 | It was explained that under the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (1979) (CPPNM), the IAEA has issued detailed guidance on the physical protection of nuclear materials and nuclear facilities. This guidance aims: ‘To establish conditions which would minimize the possibilities for unauthorised removal of nuclear material and/or for sabotage.’59 ASNO explained that Australia applies these requirements domestically and, through its bilateral safeguards agreements, requires customer countries to do the same. In July 2005 major amendments to the CPPNM were agreed that will strengthen the Convention and these amendments ma ke it legally binding for States Parties to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage as well as transport.60 |
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6.63 | It was explained that maintaining effective control over uranium requires that uranium is available only to authorised persons and that there are appropriate levels of PP at the mines themselves and the UOC stored there. ASNO sets out specific PP requirements and inspects the mines annually. ASNO also requires the uranium mines to adopt and report on specific procedures to ensure appropriate levels of physical protection for shipments of UOC from Australia to the port of unloading overseas. These procedures include checking on the physical condition of the containers and verifying the container and seal numbers at each port of unloading or transhipment.61 |
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6.64 | ASNO also submitted that it commissioned a thorough security risk review of uranium and its transport in Australia, the final report of which was expected in mid-2005. By virtue of its role as the provider of protective security advice to the Australian Government, ASIO was selected to conduct this work which included a National Security Threat Assessment. While it was expected that the ASIO report would bring forward some recommendations to further strengthen the protective security arrangements at the mines and during transport against currently perceived threats, the review identified no significant shortcomings. This result was said to be expected given that the current (terrorist) threat to UOC infrastructure remains (very) low and because UOC is weakly radioactive, meaning there would be minimal radiological consequences arising from any incident occurring during transport.62 |
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6.65 | Similarly, while the issue of the possible use of UOC in so-called ‘dirty bombs’ (radiological dispersal devices) is addressed more fully in chapter eight, ARPANSA and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) argued that because of the low levels of radioactivity in uranium oxide, use of natural uranium in such a device would not present any hazard to human health:
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6.66 | Furthermore, in relation to the hazards associated with transporting uranium oxide in Australia, Eaglefield Holdings submitted that:
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6.67 | Eaglefield went on to argue that:
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National radiation dose register and long-term health monitoring |
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6.68 | Despite the radiation dose evidence presented above, which shows that doses received by uranium mine workers in Australia are well below the prescribed limit, some concern was expressed that Australia does not monitor the long-term health outcomes for uranium industry workers and other occupationally exposed persons. For example:
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6.69 | The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which noted that it does not represent any uranium mining workers, called for long-term monitoring of the health of uranium mine workers.69 Similarly, the PHAA called for the establishment of a:
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6.70 | Likewise, Friends of the Earth–Australia (FOE) argued that:
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6.71 | In relation to the monitoring of doses received by radiation workers, including designated uranium mine and mill workers, the National Standard for Limiting Occupational Exposure to Ionising Radiation states that:
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6.72 | ARPANSA explained that regulatory agencies in each state and territory accord with the national standard, requiring uranium mining companies to keep dose records for employees for not less than 30 years. For example, in jurisdictions with operating mines:
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6.73 | ARPANSA stated that collection of up-to-date data for total radiation doses received by uranium mine workers is complicated by the fact that the dose a miner receives is made up the direct dose from the gamma rays from the radioactive material and, second, the internal dose from the inhalation of radon gas and from inhaling or ingesting dust. The internal doses are difficult to measure. However, this data is collected by the companies concerned and ARPANSA’s practice is to approach the companies ‘every five years or so’ to collate the data.74 |
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6.74 | BHP Billiton noted that it has ‘quite an extensive program of monitoring employees’ at Olympic Dam, particularly those designated employees exposed to radiation in the course of their duties.75 The company provides relevant information to government every quarter for the designated employees. |
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6.75 | However, BHP Billiton stated that regular monitoring of workers’ health was not necessary:
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6.76 | In addition, BHP Billiton argued that it would be administratively very complex to track former employees:
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6.77 | For its part, the MCA submitted that the minerals industry is working closely with the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) in determining the practicality of tracking the health of workers in the minerals industry.78 |
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6.78 | The Committee notes that the establishment of a national radiation dose register for occupationally exposed persons has previously been proposed to the Federal Government and not implemented. Dr Loy explained that the states opposed the establishment of such a register:
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6.79 | ARPANSA submitted that the Radiation Health Committee did not support the development of such a register but agreed with the collection and supply of data to UNSCEAR:
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6.80 | ARPANSA noted, however, that a radiation dose register could have merit and may be worth revisiting:
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6.81 | The Committee notes the various views put to it in relation to the need for, and potential merits of, establishing a national radiation dose register and long-term health monitoring of occupationally exposed persons in Australia. The Committee accepts that the doses received by occupationally exposed workers in Australia are small and are highly unlikely to be injurious to health. However, there remains the important issue of public perceptions of the safety of the industry and its impacts on workers exposed to radiation. The matter of providing assurance to workers themselves is also important. |
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6.82 | In view of the potential expansion of the industry and the claims, however erroneous, that the health of workers’ is being compromised by uranium mining and the nuclear industry more generally, the Committee recommends that a national radiation dose register be established. The Committee further recommends that the long-term health outcomes of occupationally exposed workers, or an appropriate sample of such workers, be monitored. Such a monitoring regime could involve periodic medical assessments over the lives of cohorts of occupationally exposed workers. In this way, the Committee hopes not only to provide assurance to workers and the public at large, but also to definitively answer claims—which the Committee is confident are entirely mistaken—that current radiation exposures are harming workers. |
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6.83 | The Committee accepts that the scope of the register and health monitoring program would need to be carefully considered in order to ensure manageability. For example, the Committee’s intention is not to include workers engaged in medical uses of radiation. However, the Committee urges that all uranium mine workers and other occupationally exposed workers, including workers at Lucas Heights and any other nuclear facilities that may be established in Australia over time, be included in the monitoring program. It is hoped that these initiatives can build on monitoring currently undertaken. |
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6.84 | The Committee notes the observation by BHP Billiton that a long-term health monitoring program could be administratively complex. The Committee wishes to minimise any additional burdens on industry and therefore recommends that the monitoring program be funded jointly by governments and industry. The Committee also urges that industry be closely consulted as to the operation of the program. |
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Recommendation 3
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Incidents at Australia’s uranium mines |
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6.85 | Some submitters drew the Committee’s attention to two incidents that took place at Ranger during 2004, where the health of workers and members of the public may have been affected. One incident related to the exposure of some workers to contaminated drinking water (potable water contamination incident) and the other involved earth moving equipment with contaminated material leaving the mine site (radiation clearance incident).82 |
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6.86 | The GAC, ACF and others argued that such incidents are indicative of ‘systematic underperformance and non compliance’ by the company concerned, Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA).83 Mr Justin Tutty further alleged that the level of monitoring and compliance at Ranger is ‘vastly unsatisfactory’ and the CFMEU submitted that the union is concerned about negligence and health and safety practices at uranium mines more generally.84 |
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6.87 | The Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH) submitted that monitoring of radiation exposure to workers has shown that at Ranger dose levels have been generally decreasing with time and typical levels are less than 10 per cent of the statutory limit, with only three incidents of any note over the life of the mine. In 1982 a product packing incident created a dust hazard where the radiation dose may have exceeded the limit for one or both of the affected workers in the area. However, such exposure did not result in any detectable injury to either worker but elevated exposure levels are interpreted as possibly contributing to a statistical increase in lifetime risk of contracting cancer. During the water contamination incident in 2004 a number of Ranger workers were exposed to contaminated water through ingestion and/or showering. However investigations concluded that resultant radiological doses were below statutory limits.85 |
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6.88 | DEH further submitted that, generally, doses to members of the public have been very small, approaching the limits of detection of monitoring equipment. However, as noted above, in 2004 earthmoving equipment left the Ranger site without adequate radiation clearance checking, resulting in contamination of the workplace of a member of the public and exposure of that person and his children to radiation doses that were conservatively estimated to be at or near the statutory dose limit for members of the public. This incident was of concern from a regulatory perspective. However, DEH argued that the radiation doses received by members of the public did not represent a significant health risk.86 |
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6.89 | Mr Harry Kenyon-Slaney, Chief Executive of ERA, explained that while the accidents were unacceptable, they did not result in any negative impacts to human health:
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6.90 | The two incidents were investigated by the Supervising Scientist, the NT Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development and the mining company. The reports of the Supervising Scientist’s investigations were tabled in the Senate on 30 August 2004. The Australian Government Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources subsequently wrote to ERA requiring it to fulfil a series of conditions. Progress towards compliance with the conditions was assessed during audits by ANSTO and ARPANSA in September 2004, November 2004 and January 2005. Those audits have indicated satisfactory progress. ERA voluntarily shutdown operations following the tabling of the reports to allow it to focus on implementation of the Minister’s requirements.88 |
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6.91 | The Supervising Scientist’s Annual Report 2004–2005 states that in March 2005 the Minister wrote to ERA to advise that, on the basis of the audit reports by ANSTO and ARPANSA, ERA had, with the exception of the implementation of the workplace safety standard AS4801, complied with all of the Minister’s conditions.89 ERA’s 2005Annual Report states that in September 2005 the company achieved certification of its health and safety management system to AS4801.90 |
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6.92 | In relation to the audit findings and conditions to which ERA was asked to comply, Mr Kenyon-Slaney noted that:
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Radiation exposure from the nuclear fuel cycle |
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6.93 | Several submitters expressed intense opposition to the nuclear power industry on the basis of the risks to public health and the alleged health effects of the industry’s operations, and particularly the claimed hereditary mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of nuclear materials. For example, Dr Helen Caldicott argued that the nuclear industry causes cancer and that exporting uranium is tantamount to ‘exporting disease’:
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6.94 | As noted in the previous chapter, Dr Caldicott also submitted that:
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6.95 | The Uniting Church in Australia (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania) asserted that risks from nuclear power and the fuel cycle to workers and the public are ‘too high’ and that:
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6.96 | The MAPW (Victorian Branch) argued that nuclear power produces radioactive materials that require long time frames to lose their toxicity and ‘these are … simply materials that should not be added to the human environment where they can pose such a long-term risk.’95 |
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6.97 | Mr Justin Tutty, Dr Caldicott and others also claimed that routine releases of radioactive gases into the air and water from nuclear reactor operations, which were discussed in the previous chapter, pose an unsustainable burden on public health:
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6.98 | In contrast, other submitters argued that the amount of radiation exposure to the public from uranium mines and the nuclear power industry as a whole is insignificant when compared to natural radiation exposure. For example, Dr Clarence Hardy of the Australian Nuclear Association (ANA) argued that:
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6.99 | The MCA submitted that: ‘It is recognised by government authorities that the major exposure to radiation for members of the public arises in the medical and dental sectors.’98 |
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6.100 | In a report to the UN General Assembly in 2000, UNSCEAR reviewed the worldwide doses from nuclear power production for the period of the mid 1990s. This followed similar studies conducted over previous assessment periods back to the early 1970s. Exposures were modelled for each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle (including uranium mining and milling) and estimates of the doses were made for workers and for the public. The material below summarises the report’s findings for exposures to employees and to the public from fuel cycle industries and their effluents. |
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Occupational exposures |
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6.101 | UNSCEAR examined doses to workers at each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle and reported doses for the following categories of workers: uranium mining, uranium milling, uranium enrichment and conversion, fuel fabrication, reactor operations, fuel reprocessing, waste handling and disposal, and research and development activities associated with the nuclear fuel cycle. |
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6.102 | There were 800 000 workers in the nuclear industry monitored in the most recent UNSCEAR study and the average doses received by these workers are listed in table 6.3. The total average annual effective dose to monitored workers was 1.75 mSv. This continued a downward trend evident in employee exposures reported by UNSCEAR in previous assessments. The total annual average effective dose to monitored workers in 1977–1979 was 4.1 mSv, in 1980–1984 it was 3.7 mSv, and in 1985–1989 it was 2.9 mSv.99 Table 6.3 Worldwide occupational exposures from nuclear power production (1990–1994)
Source ARPANSA, Submission no. 32 , p. 19. |
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6.103 | Among its findings, UNSCEAR noted that there had been a significant reduction in the doses to uranium mining and milling workers, with doses falling by a factor of three over the previous 20 years. These results follow a worldwide decline in underground mining activity and more efficient mining operations. Similarly, the dose to workers in reactor operations, which varies significantly for different types of reactors, had likewise fallen by a factor of three over the previous 20 years to 1.4 mSv in 1990–1994.100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6.104 | UNSCEAR calculated the average annual doses to workers in various other occupations exposed to ionising radiation, which are listed in table 6.4. The occupations are classified by whether workers are exposed to artificial sources of radiation, which arise from human activities (e.g. the nuclear power industry and medical uses of radiation), or natural sources (e.g. aircrew in civil aviation and radon exposure in workplaces). The data shows that, as noted above, the average annual effective dose for those employed in nuclear power production is 1.75 mSv. However, the average dose to workers exposed to natural sources of radiation is slightly greater at 1.8 mSv and, of these, aircrew in civil aviation are exposed to an average 3.0 mSv (from cosmic radiation) and radon exposure in some above-ground workplaces is estimated to average 4.8 mSv.101 |
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6.105 | In the Australian context, the Committee’s attention was drawn to the findings of a study of mortality rates among nuclear industry workers at ANSTO’s Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health in June 2005. The project, which was part of an international study on nuclear industry workers from 14 countries undertaken by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, involved 7 076 workers employed at ANSTO’s Lucas Heights facilities between 1957–1998. The project’s objective was to assess whether the Lucas Heights workers have different levels of mortality from the NSW and Australian populations. It was found that all-cause mortality was 31 per cent lower than the national rates and all-cancer mortality was 19 per cent below the NSW rate. Of 37 specific cancers and groups of cancers examined, statistically significant excesses relative to NSW mortality rates were observed only for one type of cancer (pleural cancer, which is strongly related to asbestos exposure and unrelated to ionising radiation).102 Table 6.4 Worldwide occupational radiation exposures (1990–1994)
Source UNSCEAR, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Report to the UN General Assembly , 2000 , Volume I, p. 8. |
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6.106 | ANSTO also notes that the average worker at Lucas Heights receives a dose of 1 mSv per year and those working in the most active areas receive less than 10 mSv, well below internationally accepted levels.103 |
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Exposures to the public |
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6.107 | The dose received by a whole population that is exposed to radiation is referred to as the ‘collective effective dose’ (or simply ‘collective dose’) and is calculated by adding the effective doses received by all of the people in the defined population. The unit of collective dose is the man Sievert (man Sv).104 To evaluate the total impact of radionuclides released at each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, UNSCEAR presents normalised collective effective doses per unit electrical energy generated, expressed as man Sv per gigawatt year (GWa)-1. |
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6.108 | The normalised collective doses to members of the public from radionuclides released in the various stages of the nuclear fuel cycle are summarized in table 6.5. Doses to the public are divided into the local/regional component and a global component. Table 6.5 Normalised collective effective dose to members of the public from radionuclides released in effluents from the nuclear fuel cycle (1995–1997)
Source UNSCEAR, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Report to the UN General Assembly, 2000, Volume I, Annex C, p. 284. |
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6.109 | The total local and regional collective dose in UNSCEAR’s two most recent assessment periods is 0.9 man Sv (GWa)-1. The largest part of this dose is received within a limited number of years after the releases and is mainly due to the normal operation of nuclear reactors and mining operations. The largest doses come from the continued use of some older reactors, with doses from modern Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR) about one fifth of those reported.105 |
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6.110 | The global dose, which is estimated for 10 000 years, amounts to 50 man Sv (GWa)-1. After 100 years of nuclear power production, and assuming present generating capacity is maintained, the maximum annual individual dose to the global population would be less than 0.2 μSv (i.e. 0.0002 mSv, as listed in table 6.1). This dose combines both the local and regional component, and exposure to globally dispersed radionuclides. The dose is trivial in comparison to natural background radiation.106 |
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6.111 | According to UNSCEAR and submitted to the Committee by ARPANSA, the main contribution to the public dose is from globally dispersed carbon-14 (from reactor operations and reprocessing), due to its long half-life and the fact that it becomes part of the carbon cycle through the dispersion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.107 |
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6.112 | After carbon-14 emissions, the next largest contributor to the collective dose is attributable to radon emanating from uranium mine tailings. Tailings at uranium mines, which contain the long-lived radionuclides radium-226 and thorium-230, generate radon gas. The collective dose per unit energy produced is estimated to be 0.19 man Sv (GWa)-1 during operation of the mine and the mill, and 7.5 man Sv (GWa)-1 for an assumed 10 000 year period of constant, continued release from residual tailings piles.108 |
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6.113 | These estimates relate to mines operating in the mid 1990s and UNSCEAR notes that in an alternative study, site-specific data relating to currently operating mills in four countries ( Australia, Canada, Namibia and Niger) were used. This study, which used a more detailed dispersion model than UNSCEAR and local and regional population densities applicable to the mines in question were much lower than those estimated by UNSCEAR, which take into account high population densities reported in areas surrounding mills in China. ARPANSA submitted that the tailings management practices employed at mines today are more rigorous than have been applied historically and soil covers to reduce radon emissions are more substantial than employed in the past. As a result, for currently-operating mines the alternative study found that the collective dose from radon emissions is five times lower at 1.4 man Sv (GWa)-1 over a 10 000 year period. ARPANSA submitted that this value would be more representative of new and future mines operated in accordance with current international practice.109 |
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6.114 | UNSCEAR notes that the trends in collective doses per unit electrical energy generated show significant decreases since the 1970s, which is largely attributable to reductions in the release of radionuclides from reactors and fuel reprocessing plants. The components of normalized collective dose have decreased by more than an order of magnitude for releases from reprocessing plants, by a factor of seven for releases from reactors, and by a factor of two for globally dispersed radionuclides, compared to the earliest assessment period, 1970–1979.110 |
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6.115 | ARPANSA concluded that it is possible to estimate the future impact of nuclear power production for a PWR using uranium from a current uranium mine operating to international best practice. In this situation the contribution from mining and reactor operations would fall from 14 man Sv (GWa)-1 to 7 man Sv (GWa)-1. The overall effect of nuclear power production including fuel reprocessing would then be approximately 12 man Sv (GWa)-1 in the hundredth year of practice. This would result in less than one additional fatal cancer from radiological exposures based on current risk factors. This would equate to an individual effective dose of approximately 0.3 μSv, or less than one thousandth of the dose received due to naturally occurring radionuclides.111 |
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6.116 | In sharp contrast, FOE made the allegation that some 80 000 fatal cancers will arise from the routine emissions from the nuclear fuel cycle.112 |
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6.117 | In response to the allegation that the emission of radioactive gasses from nuclear power plants is unregulated, ARPANSA noted that, internationally, regulatory agencies regulate in terms of the total dose to the public near to the facility and not necessarily by specific radionuclides, such as iodine-131. ARPANSA also argued that the discharge from Lucas Height exposes the people nearby to a trivial dose that is well below international best practice.113 |
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6.118 | Similarly, ANSTO stated that:
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Nuclear safety |
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6.119 | Some submitters pointed to alleged hazards of current nuclear reactors, evolutionary reactor designs and future reactor concepts. For example, the ACF pointed to a report commissioned by Greenpeace which asserted, inter alia, that:
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6.120 | Mr Justin Tutty also alleged that the risk of catastrophic radioactive releases is an unavoidable feature of nuclear power generation.116 Similarly, the Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC) argued that: ‘The spectre of catastrophic failure still looms large’ and there are hazards at all steps of the nuclear energy chain, particularly in reactors and reprocessing plants.117 Likewise, Mr John Klepetko alleged that:
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6.121 | Mr David Addison argued that the potential damage a nuclear accident could cause is high enough in consequence for the burden of proof to be on those who promote nuclear energy to prove its safety:
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6.122 | MAPW (WA Branch) specifically pointed to the risks of reactors being built in Indonesia and the possibility of accidents ‘with the prospect of the fallout from any meltdown being carried by the prevailing winds … towards Australia.’120 |
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Reactor safety |
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6.123 | In response to these concerns, other submitters emphasised that the risks from western nuclear power plants, in terms of the consequences of an accident or terrorist attack, are minimal compared with other commonly accepted risks.121 |
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6.124 | It was argued that nuclear power has proven to be an extremely safe form of power generation. In the 50-year history of civil nuclear power generation, which spans more than 12 000 cumulative reactor years of commercial operation in 32 countries, there have been two significant accidents to nuclear power plants:
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6.125 | While there have been other incidents at nuclear reactors, the Chernobyl accident, which is discussed further below, is the only accident at a commercial nuclear power plant that has resulted in fatalities. Furthermore, Chernobyl is said to be the only accident where radiation doses to the public were greater than those resulting from exposure to natural sources. Other incidents have been completely confined to the plants involved. |
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6.126 | AMP Capital Investors Sustainable Funds Team (AMP CISFT), who oppose the use of nuclear power, observed that:
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6.127 | Areva submitted that safety at nuclear reactors is realised in the form of precautionary measures in design, construction and operation. Nuclear plants operate using a three-level ‘defence in depth’ concept: first, to prevent any accident; second, to monitor and protect safety; and third, to avoid unacceptable consequences. |
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6.128 | In turn, safe reactor design relies on a ‘three barrier principle’, involving series of strong, leak-tight physical ‘barriers’ which form a shield against radiation and confine radioactivity in all circumstances:
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6.129 | The UIC further explains that these barriers in a typical plant are: the fuel is in the form of solid ceramic pellets, and radioactive fission products remain bound inside these pellets as the fuel is burned. The pellets are packed inside sealed zirconium alloy tubes to form fuel rods. These are confined inside a large steel pressure vessel with walls up to 30 cm thick, with the associated primary water cooling pipework also substantial. All this, in turn, is enclosed inside a reinforced concrete containment structure with walls at least one metre thick. |
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6.130 | However, the UIC comments that the main safety features of most reactors are inherent—‘negative temperature coefficient’ and ‘negative void coefficient’. The first means that beyond an optimal level, as the temperature increases the efficiency of the reaction decreases (this is used to control power levels in some new designs). The second means that if any steam has formed in the cooling water there is a decrease in moderating effect so that fewer neutrons are able to cause fission and the reaction slows down automatically.125 |
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6.131 | Beyond the control rods which are inserted to absorb neutrons and regulate the fission process, the main engineered safety provisions are the back-up emergency core cooling system (ECCS) to remove excess heat (though this is more to prevent damage to the plant than for public safety) and the containment structure. |
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6.132 | The basis of design assumes a threat where, due to accident or malign intent (e.g. terrorism), there is core melting and a breach of containment. Nuclear power plants are also designed with sensors to shut them down automatically in an earthquake, as this is a vital consideration in many parts of the world (e.g. Japan). |
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6.133 | Professor Leslie Kemeny submitted that nuclear reactors are highly robust:
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6.134 | Investigations following the TMI accident led to a new focus on the human factors in nuclear safety. According to the UIC, no major design changes were called for in western reactors, but controls and instrumentation were improved and operator training was overhauled. In contrast, the Chernobyl reactor did not have a containment structure like those used in the West or in post-1980 Soviet designs. |
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6.135 | One mandated safety indicator for reactors is the probable frequency of degraded core or core melt accidents. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) specifies that reactor designs must meet a 1 in 10 000 year core damage frequency, but modern designs are said to exceed this. US utility requirements are 1 in 100 000 years, the best currently operating plants are about 1 in one million years and those likely to be built in the next decade are almost 1 in 10 million years. Regulatory requirements are that the effects of any core-melt accident must be confined to the plant itself, without the need to evacuate nearby residents.127 |
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6.136 | The UIC notes that the main safety concern has always been the possibility of an uncontrolled release of radioactive material, leading to contamination and consequent radiation exposure off site. It has been assumed that this would follow a major loss of cooling accident (LOCA) which resulted in a core melt. However, UIC argued that experience has proved otherwise in any circumstances relevant to Western reactor designs. Studies of material in a reactor core under extreme conditions, including the post-accident situation at TMI, have found that a severe core melt coupled with a breach of containment could not in fact create a major radiological disaster from any Western reactor design.128 |
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6.137 | Areva noted that some 12 000 reactor years of operation has contributed greatly to global experience in reactor design. This experience and extensive research and development programs are said to have had a significant impact, improving plant performance and enhancing safety.129 ANSTO and others also emphasised technological developments in reactor and fuel cycle design which are focused on enhanced safety. |
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6.138 | Mr Jerry Grandey, Chief Executive Officer of Cameco Corporation, explained that in Western Europe and the US a new generation of reactors are now being certified by regulatory agencies that are ‘passively safe’; that is, they use gravity instead of depending on mechanical devices for the operation of safety features. Mr Grandey observed that, like any other industry, the nuclear power industry is continually striving to develop improved technology. Improved plants are already being deployed in some countries, such as Japan, Finland, France and China.130 |
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6.139 | Several generations of reactors are commonly distinguished. Generation I reactors were developed in the 1950–60s and outside the UK none are still operating today. Generation II reactors are typified by the present US fleet and most in operation elsewhere. Generation III (and III+) designs are known as ‘Advanced Reactors’ and are now being deployed, with the first in operation in Japan since 1996 and one each being built in France and Finland. Generation IV designs are still being developed, with some at an advanced stage (such as the Modular Helium Reactor, mentioned in the previous chapter, which is now in advanced development by General Atomics in the US), and will not be operational before 2020 at the earliest.131 Figure 6.1 depicts the evolution of nuclear reactor designs. Figure 6.1 The evolution of nuclear reactor designsSource US Department of Energy , Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems. |
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6.140 | The UIC explains that the most significant departure from second-generation designs is that many Advanced Reactors incorporate passive or inherent safety features which require no active controls or operational intervention to avoid accidents in the event of malfunction, and may rely on gravity, natural convection or resistance to high temperatures.132 It is argued that these reactors are one or two orders of magnitude safer than second generation reactors in respect to the likelihood of core melt accidents. |
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6.141 | Examples of third-generation reactors in the US include the advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) derived from a General Electric design, which the NRC notes exceeds NRC safety goals by several orders of magnitude, and the Westinghouse AP-600 (AP = Advanced Passive). Both designs have been granted NRC design certification. The AP-600s projected core damage frequency is nearly 1 000 times less than today’s NRC requirements.133 |
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6.142 | One of four Advanced Reactor designs currently being developed to meet European utility requirements is the European pressurised water reactor (EPR) proposed by Areva, which is an example of a Generation III+ design. The first EPR is currently being built in Finland and a second is to be built in France. Areva noted that key design improvements are the total confinement of radioactivity even in the most serious accident scenarios and reinforced protection against external events. The reactor’s safety systems have been simplified, diversified, more fully automated and a greater degree of redundancy has been incorporated. |
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6.143 | Areva submitted that the EPR has several novel safety features and the design meets demands expressed by European electricity companies and safety authorities:
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6.144 | Beyond third-generation reactors, two international initiatives have been launched to define future reactor and fuel cycle technology. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) is a US-led grouping of twelve countries established in 2001, which has identified six reactor concepts for further investigation with a view to commercial deployment between 2010 and 2030. The six systems are intended to offer increased safety, improved economics for electricity production and new products such as hydrogen for transportation applications, reduced nuclear wastes for disposal, and increased proliferation resistance.135 |
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6.145 | The other initiative is the IAEA’s International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO), which has some 21 members and is focused more on developing country needs, and initially involved Russia rather than the US, though the US has now joined the Project. INPRO is intended to complement the GIF in promoting innovative concepts.136 |
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6.146 | Some of the Generation IV reactor designs will be inherently safe by virtue of being immune from the possibility of core melt accidents and passively safe. Among these designs are the very high-temperature gas reactors (one of the six GIF concepts), which includes pebble bed modular reactors (PBMR) under development in South Africa and China, and the gas turbine-modular helium reactor (GT-MHR) being developed by General Atomics. Among their other characteristics, these designs can accommodate the total loss of coolant without the possibility of a meltdown. The reactors’ negative temperature coefficient inherently shuts down the core when it rises above normal operating temperatures. Furthermore, the helium (in which the core is bathed) which is used to transfer heat from the core to the turbines is chemically inert. It cannot combine with other chemicals and is non-combustible. Being passively safe, in the case of emergency no human intervention would be required in the short or medium term in these reactors.137 |
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6.147 | Silex Systems also argued that safety has been a top priority for the industry since reactors were first deployed commercially and that the current reactor fleet has been made safer by modifications over time. Third generation reactors, which are now being deployed, include inherent safety features and fourth generation designs, such as the PBMR and GT-MHR designs mentioned above, ensure that an event in the reactor core cannot even occur:
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6.148 | Nova Energy also argued that new and advanced reactor designs are now far safer than those that operated in previous decades:
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6.149 | Areva commented that public perceptions of reactor designs are still shaped by the Chernobyl accident and fail to appreciate the technical developments that have occurred since:
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6.150 | AMEC also argued that, as with developments in the design of ships or aircraft, the evolution of reactor technologies needs to be acknowledged:
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6.151 | Similarly, the Committee notes the observation by Dr Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, that:
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6.152 | Notwithstanding technological advances, the AMP CISFT was not confident that passive or inherent safety features incorporated into modern reactor designs could adequately mitigate against the risk of accidents.143 Pointing to a ‘near miss’ incident at the Davis-Besse plant in the US, and incidents at reprocessing plants in the US and UK, AMP CISFT asserted that ‘good engineering’ is not enough to ensure safety:
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6.153 | It was argued that strict adherence to maintenance and safety rules on the part of nuclear workers are critical in providing the required level of health and safety assurance. However, AMP CISFT argued that incidents at reactors, reprocessing plants and uranium mines ‘cast doubt over whether it is possible for … companies to address health and safety concerns and ensure that systems and procedures will be followed or are adequate.’145 |
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6.154 | MAPW (Victorian Branch) argued that incidents at TMI, Tokai-mura in Japan and Davis-Besse in the US shows that risks of serious accidents are not confined to specific types of reactors or to particular countries.146 |
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Global nuclear safety regime |
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6.155 | The IAEA states that a global nuclear safety regime exists which is comprised of four elements:
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6.156 | The principal international legal instruments include the:
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6.157 | The IAEA has also developed Codes of Conduct relating to research reactors and on the safety and security of radioactive sources. The IAEA is also charged with developing Safety Standards which embody best practice and serve as guides for national regulatory rules and guidelines. |
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6.158 | In addition to the application of safety standards, international peer review is also said to bring broader expertise, perspective and transparency to national safety assessment and verification processes and ultimately to improve public confidence. The IAEA conducts safety and security peer reviews and safety appraisals upon Member State request, including Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) and Peer Review of Operational Safety Performance Experience (PROSPER) missions. In 2005 the Agency conducted some 120 safety review missions covering topics including nuclear power plant operational safety, radiation source safety and security, nuclear and radiation safety infrastructure, and transport safety.149 |
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6.159 | The IAEA states that a key to promoting safety culture is the exchange of knowledge. To this end, the IAEA is promoting and facilitating the establishment of regional nuclear and radiation safety networks, such as the Asian Nuclear Safety Network. The IAEA also seeks to preserve and maintain knowledge through an International Nuclear Information System.150 Areva also noted that the IAEA and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) jointly manage an international Incident Reporting System (INS), which has been established to facilitate the exchange of experience for the purpose of improving the safety of nuclear power plants.151 |
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6.160 | There are also a number of forums in which national regulators can exchange information and experience with their counterparts in other countries, such as the International Nuclear Regulators Association and the Network of Regulators of Countries with Small Nuclear Programs.152 |
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6.161 | In addition to these international activities, peer review and knowledge exchange is also undertaken by other organisations, such as the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) which was formed in 1989. WANO, whose membership includes every organisation in the world that operates a nuclear power plant, was established following the Chernobyl accident specifically to improve safety at every nuclear power plant in the world. WANO seeks to achieve its mission of maximising the safety and reliability of the operation of nuclear plants by exchanging information and encouraging communication, comparison and emulation amongst its members. It conducts activities including peer reviews, technical support and exchange, and professional and technical development. WANO has also developed a series of performance indicators for plant safety and reliability which are now reported by practically all operating nuclear power plants worldwide.153 |
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6.162 | Among its other findings, the IAEA’s Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 2005, which reports on worldwide efforts to strengthen nuclear, radiation, transport and radioactive waste safety, concluded that:
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6.163 | The IAEA noted, however, that there is a need to guard against complacency by the industry and regulatory authorities, particularly in relation to operational safety performance, and that a continuing challenge is to collect, analyse and disseminate safety experience and knowledge.155 In relation to the transport of radioactive material, the report found that the industry’s good safety record continued in 2005.156 |
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6.164 | In a similar vein, the OECD-NEA’s 2005 edition of The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle report reached the general conclusion that while more should always be done to enhance nuclear safety, for example in relation to human factors, nonetheless ‘the fuel cycle industry has now reached a full maturity status and … nuclear safety is adequately mastered.’157 |
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The Chernobyl accident |
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6.165 | The Chernobyl accident occurred on 26 April 1986 at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Ukrainian republic of the Soviet Union. |
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6.166 | According to the US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the four chernobyl reactors were PWRs of the Soviet RBMK design, which were intended to produce electrical power and plutonium. These reactors were said to be very different from standard commercial designs, employing a combination of graphite moderator and water coolant. The reactors were also highly unstable at low power, primarily owing to control rod design and a large positive void coefficient—factors that accelerated nuclear chain reaction and power output if the reactors lost cooling water.158 |
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6.167 | On the morning of 26 April 1986 the reactor crew at Chernobyl-4 began to prepare for a test involving a shut-down of the reactor (in order to determine how long turbines would spin and supply power following a loss of main electrical power supply). A series of operator actions, including the disabling of automatic shutdown mechanisms, preceded the attempted test. As the flow of coolant diminished, power output increased. When the operator sought to shut down the reactor from its unstable condition arising from previous errors, a peculiarity of the design caused a dramatic power surge. |
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6.168 | The power surge caused a sudden increase in heat which ruptured some of the fuel elements. The hot fuel particles reacted with the water and caused a steam explosion which lifted off the cover plate of the reactor and released fission products to the atmosphere. The explosion ruptured the remaining fuel elements which caused a second explosion and exposed the reactor core to the environment. The second explosion threw out fragments of burning fuel and graphite from the core and allowed air to rush in, causing the graphite moderator to burst into flames. The graphite burned for the following nine days, causing the main release of radioactivity.159 |
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6.169 | The Chernobyl plant did not have a containment structure common to most nuclear power plants elsewhere in the world. Without this protection, radioactive material escaped into the environment. The explosions which ruptured the reactor vessel and the consequent fire resulted in large amounts of radioactive materials being released. The cloud from the burning reactor spreading numerous types of radioactive materials, especially iodine-131 (which has a half-life of eight days) and caesium-137 (which has a half-life of 30 years) over much of Europe. However, the greatest deposits of radionuclides occurred over large areas of the former Soviet Union, notably Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.160 |
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6.170 | In short, the UIC submitted that the Chernobyl accident resulted from a flawed Soviet reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety. The accident has led to a profound change in operational culture in the former Soviet Union.161 |
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6.171 | It was repeatedly emphasised that the Chernobyl plant would never have been certified for operation under regulatory regimes of western countries, due to reactor design shortcomings and the lack of safeguards. The UIC stated that all of the 13 remaining Soviet-designed RBMK reactors, identical to the Chernobyl reactor, have now been substantially modified, making them more stable and adding safety features like faster automatic shut-down mechanisms.162 |
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6.172 | Evidence presented to the Committee on the number of immediate fatalities caused by the accident and the possible number of eventual fatalities due to radiation exposure was strongly divided. |
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6.173 | The MAPW (Victorian Branch) claimed in its submission that ‘at least 6 000 deaths resulted’ from the accident.163 Dr Helen Caldicott claimed that, of the clean up workers alone, ‘5 000 to 10 000 are known to have died so far.’164 Dr Caldicott also cited claims that the eventual number of fatal cancers caused by the accident will be between 140 000 and 450 000, with an equal number of non-fatal cancers. That is, there will ultimately be almost one million cases of cancer attributable to the Chernobyl accident.165 The FOE estimated that there will be 24 000 fatal cancers attributable to the accident.166 |
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6.174 | In September 2005 a major multi-agency UN report was released, Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts, which represents the most comprehensive evaluation of the Chernobyl accident’s consequences to date. The report was produced by the Chernobyl Forum, which is comprised of eight agencies—IAEA, WHO, UNSCEAR, United Nations Development Program, Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations Environment Program, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Bank and the governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The report, which involved the contributions of some 100 recognised international experts, represents a consensus view of the eight UN organisations and the three governments. |
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6.175 | In relation to cancer mortality due to radiation exposure from the accident, the Chernobyl Forum states that claims that tens or even hundreds of thousands of persons have died as a result of the accident are ‘highly exaggerated.’167 |
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6.176 | The report states that it is impossible to assess reliably, with any precision, the latent cancer deaths that may be caused by radiation exposure due to the accident. Further, radiation-induced cancers are at present indistinguishable from those due to other causes. The WHO notes that that number of such deaths can only be estimated statistically using information and projections from the studies of atomic bomb survivors and other highly exposed populations. However, the atomic bomb survivors received high radiation doses in a short time period (i.e. high dose rates), while Chernobyl caused low doses over a long time. This and other factors, such as trying to estimate doses people received some time after the accident, as well as differences in lifestyle and nutrition, cause very large uncertainties when making projections about future cancer deaths. In addition, a significant non-radiation related reduction in the average lifespan in the three countries over the past 15 years caused by overuse of alcohol and tobacco, and reduced health care, have significantly increased the difficulties in detecting any effect of radiation on cancer mortality. |
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6.177 | The estimates also make the LNT assumption described above; that risk continues in a linear fashion at lower doses. The Chernobyl Forum notes that small differences in the assumptions about the risks from exposure to low level radiation can lead to large differences in the predictions of the increased cancer burden, and hence ‘predictions should be treated with great caution, especially when the additional doses above natural background radiation are small.’168 |
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6.178 | Among its other findings, the Chernobyl Forum concludes that:
Table 6.6 Predictions of excess deaths from solid cancers and leukaemia over lifetime (up to 95 years) in populations exposed as a result of the Chernobyl accident
Source Adapted from WHO, Health effects of the Chernobyl accident and special care programs , p. 108. |
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6.179 | The MAPW (Victorian Branch) were critical of the Chernobyl Forum’s estimates and claimed that they were ‘incomplete and underestimate the health consequences of the disaster.’176 Adding estimates for other groups, such as additional liquidators that the MAPW believes the Chernobyl Forum has not included in its analysis and estimates for deaths in future generations, MAPW arrived at an estimated death toll of 34 200 to 38 500.177 |
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6.180 | In research published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in April 2006, Estimates of the Cancer Burden in Europe from Radioactive Fallout from the Chernobyl Accident, it was concluded that cancer incidence and mortality in Europe do not, at present, indicate any increase in cancer rates—other than thyroid cancer in the most contaminated regions—that can be clearly attributed to radiation from the Chernobyl accident. However, the study found that for Europe up to 2065 (i.e. at end of the average life expectancy of Europeans born at the time of the accident in 1986) about 16 000 cancer deaths may occur that are attributable to Chernobyl. The study notes that the uncertainty associated with this prediction is large. As noted by the Chernobyl Forum, the study also found that because these possible deaths represent only a very small fraction of the total number of cancers seen since the accident and expected in the future in Europe, it is unlikely that the cancer burden from the accident could be ever be detected by monitoring national cancer statistics.178 |
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6.181 | When asked by the Committee to explain the variance between the Chernobyl Forum’s findings and claims that many thousands of deaths have occurred already, Dr Caldicott and the MAPW alleged that the Chernobyl Forum’s report was a ‘whitewash’.179 It was also claimed that, due to an agreement entered into with the IAEA in 1959, the WHO has been prevented from undertaking any epidemiological studies of radiation victims from Chernobyl and has had diminished independence in relation to radiation health matters more generally.180 |
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6.182 | The Chernobyl Forum’s conclusions were also disputed because the latency period before cancer reveals itself was said to be up to 70 years, and thus to have undertaken a study ‘only 20 years post Chernobyl’ was said to be too early.181 Dr Caldicott also claimed that there had been 7 000 cases of thyroid cancer and disputed, without evidence, the Chernobyl Forum’s findings that there have actually been between 4 000 and 5 000 cases and, of these, only 15 people have died to date with thyroid cancer having very high survival rates (almost 99 per cent).182 |
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6.183 | The ANA, among others, expressed frustration with Dr Caldicott’s position and responded with the observation that:
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6.184 | However, the Chernobyl Forum states that for most solid cancers the latency period is likely to be longer than for leukaemia or thyroid cancer (some 10 to 15 years longer—i.e. about 20–25 years after the accident), and hence it may be too early to evaluate the full radiological impact of the accident. Accordingly, the Forum recommends that medical care and annual examinations of highly exposed Chernobyl workers should continue.184 |
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6.185 | Rather than radiation exposure posing the greatest threat to the affected populations, the Chernobyl Forum clearly states that:
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6.186 | The report also states that the largest public health problem caused by the accident has been the mental health impact, in part due to the trauma associated with the resettlement of some 330 000 people from the most affected areas. Populations in the affected areas are said to exhibit strongly negative attitudes in self-assessments of health and well-being, and a strong sense of lack of control over their own lives. This is said to have been exacerbated by widespread mistrust of official information and designation of the population as ‘victims’ rather than as ‘survivors’.186 |
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6.187 | The report emphasises that exaggerated or misplaced health fears, a sense of victimisation and a dependency culture created by government policies is widespread in the affected areas:
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6.188 | At the release of the report, the Chairman of the Chernobyl Forum, Dr Burton Bennett, stated that:
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6.189 | Similarly, the Manager of the WHO’s Radiation Program, Dr Michael Repachioli, stated that:
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6.190 | The Director General of the IAEA commented that while the impacts of the accident were severe, nonetheless:
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6.191 | Dr Ron Cameron of ANSTO submitted that:
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6.192 | ANSTO also sought to place the 56 fatalities to date from the Chernobyl accident in the context of fatalities in other industries, which have far outnumbered those that have or may be attributed to Chernobyl:
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6.193 | As noted by the UIC and ANSTO, Mr Jerry Grandey also pointed out that the accident involved a Soviet designed reactor which would never have been licensed in the West. Mr Grandey also observed that the TMI and Chernobyl accidents have affected public perceptions of the safety of nuclear power and ‘we have been living with that and responding to it as an industry since they occurred in 1979 and 1986.’193 |
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6.194 | In particular, Mr Grandey noted that in Eastern Europe, where similar reactors to those that operated at Chernobyl are still being used, considerable effort has been put into retrofitting the reactors to enhance safety and bring them up to Western standards. These activities have occurred under the oversight of the IAEA and Euratom, with the result that:
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6.195 | Although retrofitting of reactors in Russia has not had the same degree of international oversight, upgrades of Russian reactors have been carried out by the country’s ministry of atomic energy. Mr Grandey argued that within the nuclear industry the ‘conventional view of Russian technology today is that it is as safe as, if not more robust than, some of the Western technology’.195 |
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6.196 | The UIC confirms these observations, noting that modifications have been made to overcome deficiencies in the 12 RBMK reactors still operating in Russia and Lithuania. Among other modifications, these have removed the danger of a positive void coefficient response, as occurred at Chernobyl. Automated inspection equipment has also been installed in these reactors. Later Soviet-designed reactors are said to be very much safer and the most recent ones have Western control systems or the equivalent, along with containment structures.196 |
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6.197 | More generally, the UIC notes that the Chernobyl accident led to the development of a safety culture in the former Soviet union, which has been encouraged by increased collaboration between East and West, and substantial investment in improving reactors. Over 1 000 nuclear engineers from the former Soviet Union have visited Western nuclear power plants since 1989 and over 50 twinning arrangements are now in place between East and Western nuclear plants, largely under the auspices of WANO. The UIC notes a number of other international developments aimed at improving nuclear safety in former Eastern bloc countries.197 |
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6.198 | Dr Rod Hill of the CSIRO argued that assessments must be made of the balance between the risk of an accident occurring and the consequences of the accident:
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6.199 | In contrast, the UIC argues that the assertion that nuclear reactor accidents are ‘the epitome of low-probability but high-consequence’ risks is not accurate, as the consequences of an accident are likely to be much less severe than those from other industrial and energy sources, as evidenced by data in the following section.199 |
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6.200 | BHP Billiton also submitted that the response to the TMI accident shows that nuclear accidents can be successfully contained:
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Nuclear power compared to other energy sources |
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6.201 | The UIC argued that, in comparison to other energy sources, nuclear power has a superior safety record, as indicated by the data for immediate fatalities and injuries from energy accidents for the period 1969 to 1996 in tables 6.7 and 6.8 below. Table 6.7 Severe energy accidents with the five highest number of immediate fatalities (1969–1996)
Source Uranium Information Centre, Submission no. 12 , p. 11. Table 6.8 Severe energy accidents with the five highest number of injured (1969–1996)
Source Uranium Information Centre, Submission no. 12 , p. 11. |
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6.202 | These claims are supported by the findings of a substantial and widely cited study, Comprehensive Assessment of Energy Systems: Severe Accidents in the Energy Sector, undertaken by the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, published in 1998. The study derived severe accident damage indictors, which were calculated for all stages of the energy production chains for coal, oil, natural gas, LPG, hydro and nuclear. The data, which is provided per terawatt-year (TWa) of electricity generated, is listed in table 6.9. The Chernobyl accident resulted in some 31 immediate fatalities (in 1986) and is shown in the table as having caused 8 fatalities per TWa of electricity generated. Table 6.9 Severe accident damage indicators based on worldwide records (1969–1996)
Source Adapted from Paul Scherrer Institut , Severe Accidents in the Energy Sector , p. 291. |
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6.203 | The data indicates that, in terms of immediate loss of life in severe accidents per unit of electricity generated, nuclear power is by far the safest of all forms of energy generation. The next safest, natural gas, has a fatality rate 10 times that of nuclear, coal is some 43 times that of nuclear and hydro has a fatality rate more than 100 times greater than nuclear. |
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6.204 | The study also provides data for severe accidents in OECD and non-OECD records. In terms of the numbers of immediate fatalities per unit of electricity generated, nuclear is again by far the safest form of energy generation in both groups of countries. In the OECD countries, the study records that nuclear power has caused no fatalities or injuries, and is also the safest when delayed fatalities are included (i.e. the latent fatalities due to Chernobyl).201 |
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6.205 | The report states that while the fatality numbers are highly reliable, the numbers injured and monetary damage are less certain and must be interpreted with caution. Furthermore, while the economic loss associated with the Chernobyl accident is highly dominant, the report notes that estimates for the monetary damage due to the accident vary by an order of magnitude, from US$20 billion to $320 billion.202 |
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6.206 | The number of delayed fatalities associated with the Chernobyl accident, which was discussed in the preceding section, may rise to some 9 000 over the lifetime of the most exposed populations. In terms of the delayed fatality rates for nuclear, the PSI study states that:
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6.207 | Probabilistic safety assessments of plant-specific health risks of representative western nuclear plants (two in the US and one in Switzerland) found a difference of several orders of magnitude between Chernobyl-based estimates of the frequency of delayed fatalities and probabilistic plant-specific estimates for the representative Swiss and US plants.204 |
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6.208 | FOE claimed that the burning of fossil fuels leads to a large number of fatalities due to the emission of toxic gases and particulates. However, it was claimed that, in addition to delayed fatalities due to Chernobyl, the data in table 6.9 fails to include an estimate of the fatalities arising from the routine radioactive emissions from nuclear fuel cycle facilities. As noted in the discussion of exposures to the public from the fuel cycle above, FOE and others claimed that about 80 000 fatal cancers are caused by routine operations of fuel cycle facilities. These submitters concluded that:
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6.209 | In addition to the catastrophic events listed in the tables above, the UIC noted that 6 027 workers died in 3 639 separate accidents in Chinese coal mines in 2004 alone. On average, there are 4.2 fatalities per million tonnes (Mt) of coal mined in China. This compares with 7 fatalities/Mt in Ukraine, 0.034/Mt in the US, and 0.009/Mt in Australia.206 |
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6.210 | The UIC noted that China plans to more than quadruple its nuclear power capacity to 40 gigawatts electric (GWe) (to 4 per cent of total projected electricity demand) by 2020, which will obviate the need to mine an additional 17 Mt per year of coal for power generation—thus avoiding some 71 additional coal-related deaths per year, based on the average fatality rate mentioned above. |
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6.211 | However, ANSTO observed that even in Australia, with the safest coal mining record in the world, there have been 112 coal mining deaths in NSW alone since 1979 and 281 deaths Australia-wide in 18 major disasters since 1902. In comparison, there have been three deaths from accidents at uranium mines in Australia since 1979.207 |
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6.212 | Jindalee Resources and others argued that:
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6.213 | However, in comparing the numbers of fatalities in the coal industry with those in the nuclear industry, Dr Caldicott argued that for nuclear power:
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6.214 | Nonetheless, Jindalee Resources observed that while much is made of radiation risks associated with uranium mining, there is no public awareness that coal-fired power stations generate large quantities of fly-ash that is highly radioactive:
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6.215 | Similarly, Summit Resources observed that:
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6.216 | While conceding that nuclear power’s safety record is ‘encouraging’, AMP CISFT also argued that this doesn’t necessarily provide evidence that nuclear power is ‘safe’:
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6.217 | Summit Resources stated emphatically that ‘the nuclear power industry is the safest form of power generation that man has used to date.’213 In addition to the statistics for deaths of coal miners cited earlier, Mr Eggers noted that, in terms of deaths at power stations:
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6.218 | Summit Resources also compared the risks associated with the transport of LNG:
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6.219 | Nova Energy argued that risks in the mining of uranium are well understood and managed successfully:
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6.220 | In relation to the routine operations of the nuclear power industry, the Committee also notes that the Fox Inquiry report concluded that:
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Terrorism and the safety of nuclear facilities |
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6.221 | A principal concern of some submitters was the alleged vulnerability of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and other nuclear facilities to acts of terrorism. The IAEA has likewise identified the possible radiological hazards caused by an attack on, or sabotage of, a nuclear facility or a transport vehicle as one of four potential nuclear security risks.218 |
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6.222 | The MAPW (Victorian Branch) argued that:
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6.223 | MAPW (Victorian Branch) made a number of other claims, including that all current containment structures surrounding reactors could be breached by attacks such as those that occurred at the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York in 2001. Attacks could also target more peripheral but important components of a plant’s operations, such as cooling water conduits or plant safety systems. Simulated attacks on Russian and US reactors are said to have revealed significant vulnerabilities.220 |
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6.224 | MAPW and Dr Helen Caldicott also argued that spent fuel storage tanks are even more vulnerable than reactors, because these are allegedly often housed in simpler buildings with less robust containment structures. It was also argued that an attack on a reprocessing plant or spent fuel pools could result in greater and longer-lived radioactivity release than following an attack on a reactor, because spent fuel pools contain larger concentrations of radioactivity than a reactor core.221 It was submitted that:
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6.225 | While it was conceded that preventative security measures are being implemented to reduce the likelihood of a successful attack, ‘in the long-term only the complete dismantling of nuclear power plants will fully prevent such a devastating eventuality.’223 |
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6.226 | The UIC states that, since the events of 11 September 2001, various studies have examined similar attacks on nuclear power plants and, contrary to the MAPW’s claims, these have concluded that reactor structures would protect reactor fuel from impacts of large commercial aircraft. One study, funded by the US Department of Energy, used a fully-fuelled Boeing 767-400 weighing over 200 tonnes flying at 560 km/hr. This study found that no part of the aircraft or its fuel would penetrate the containment structure. The analyses also showed no breach of spent fuel storage pools and that transport casks retained their integrity.224 |
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6.227 | In another test, conducted in 1988 by the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in the US, a rocket-propelled F4 Phantom jet was flown into concrete at 765 km/hr (to test whether a proposed Japanese nuclear power plant could withstand the impact of a heavy aircraft). The maximum penetration of the concrete in this experiment was six centimetres.225 |
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6.228 | Mr Stephen Mann, representing Areva, submitted that:
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6.229 | Among its other responses to the WTC attacks, the NRC began an accelerated security and engineering review. The review looked at what could possibly happen if terrorists used an aircraft to attack a nuclear power plant. The potential consequences of other types of terrorist attacks were also assessed. The NRC analysed what might happen as a result of such attacks and what other factors might affect the possibility or magnitude of a radiation release.227 |
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6.230 | The NRC states that as part of the security review it has conducted detailed engineering studies of a number of nuclear power plants. The studies at the specific facilities confirmed that the plants are robust. It was also found that even in the unlikely event of a radiological release due to a terrorist attack, there would be time to implement the required offsite planning strategies already in place to protect public health and safety. |
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6.231 | In relation to the security of spent fuel storage, the NRC considers spent fuel storage facilities to be robust so that in the event of a terrorist attack similar to those of 2001, no negative effect on the storage of radioactive materials would result. The NRC states that spent fuel pools and dry storage casks do not have flammable material to fuel long-duration fires, unlike the structures that were destroyed in the events of September 2001. However, the NRC states that it is conducting an evaluation that includes consideration of potential consequences of terrorist attacks using various explosives or other techniques on spent fuel pools and dry storage casks.228 |
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6.232 | Since September 2001 NPP security has been significantly strengthened and the NRC has issued new security requirements for plant sites. All US plants have met these requirements. NPPs must meet the highest security standards of any industry in the US. Since 2001, the US nuclear power industry has spent an additional US$1.2 billion on security-related improvements.229 |
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6.233 | More generally, the NEI states that the defence-in-depth philosophy used in the construction and operation of NPPs provides high levels of protection for public health and safety.230 In addition to the reactor containment and reactor vessel construction, which are designed to be impervious to catastrophes and to airborne objects up to a certain force, NPPs have:
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6.234 | Among a range of international initiatives to enhance nuclear security, in 2005 the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. The Convention details offences relating to unlawful and intentional possession and use of radioactive material or a radioactive device, and use or damage of nuclear facilities. The Convention requires States Parties to make every effort to adopt appropriate measures to ensure the protection of radioactive material.232 |
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6.235 | The Committee addresses other security risks, including the risk of terrorist groups acquiring nuclear materials for the construction of nuclear weapons and the potential for Australian Obligated Nuclear Material (AONM) and other radioactive material to be diverted for use in ‘dirty bombs’, in chapter eight. Other Australian and international efforts to prevent, detect and respond to such attacks are discussed further in chapter eight. |
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6.236 | While written in a different historical and strategic context, the Fox Inquiry report concluded that the risk of nuclear terrorism did not constitute a sufficient reason for Australia declining to supply uranium, but that the matter should be kept under constant scrutiny and control by Government.233 |
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Depleted uranium |
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6.237 | Some submitters expressed concerns about alleged health and environmental impacts of the use of depleted uranium, particularly depleted uranium used in munitions. It was also argued that an expansion of uranium mining would automatically lead to an increase in the amount of this material available for weapons production. |
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6.238 | As described in the overview of the fuel cycle in chapter two, depleted uranium is a product (known as ‘tails’) of the uranium enrichment process. The UIC explained that every tonne of natural uranium produced and enriched for use in a nuclear reactor gives about 130 kg of enriched fuel (3.5 per cent or more U-235). The balance is depleted uranium (some 99.8 per cent U-238, with some 0.2 percent U-235). This major portion has been depleted in its fissile U-235 isotope by the enrichment process and is commonly known as DU. Consequently, DU is weakly radioactive and a radiation dose from it would be about 60 per cent that from natural uranium with the same mass.234 |
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6.239 | DU is stored either as UF6 or it is de-converted back to U3O6 which is more benign chemically and thus more suited for long-term storage. It is also less toxic. Every year over 50 000 tonnes of DU is added to already substantial stockpiles in the US, Europe and Russia. World stocks of DU are about 1.2 million tonnes. 235 |
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6.240 | Some DU is drawn from these stockpiles to dilute high-enriched (>90 per cent) uranium (HEU) released from weapons programs, particularly in Russia, and destined for use in civil reactors. This weapons-grade material is diluted about 25:1 with DU, or 29:1 with DU that has been enriched slightly (to 1.5 per cent U-235) to minimise levels of (natural) U-234 in the product. |
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6.241 | Other than for diluting HEU for use as reactor fuel, DU also has applications where its very high density (1.7 times that of lead) is beneficial. DU is used in aircraft control surfaces, helicopter counterweights and yacht keels. The military uses of DU include defensive armour plate and in armour penetrating military ordnance. DU can ignite on impact if the temperature exceeds 600ºC. DU was widely used in the 1991 Gulf War (300 tonnes) and less so in Kosovo (11 tonnes).236 |
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6.242 | Ms Ilona Renwick submitted that:
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6.243 | The Darwin NO-WAR Committee submitted that:
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6.244 | It was argued that the effects of DU weapons reach beyond their immediate target, continue after the war and have an unduly negative impact on the environment: ‘They also constitute an unduly inhumane risk for both civilians and combatants.’239 |
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6.245 | The PHAA also argued that concerns about the use of DU in munitions arose because of health problems suffered by people in Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War. PHAA pointed to UN cancer statistics for southern Iraq which were said to indicate a seven-fold increase in cancer during the period 1989-1994. It was also argued that the incidence of congenital malformations in Iraq has risen sharply since the Gulf War. In addition, many US Gulf War veterans are disabled by a range of symptoms, called Gulf War Syndrome, for which there was said to be no generally accepted explanation.240 |
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6.246 | Mrs Judy Forsyth also alleged that the :
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6.247 | Furthermore, Mrs Forsyth argued that there can be no guarantee that Australia uranium, exported to the US and UK, is not being used in the weapons.242 |
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6.248 | The PHAA urged the Australian Government to seek an immediate international moratorium on the use of DU munitions and an independent study on health and environmental effects of DU, including studies of both the civilian and the military populations that have been exposed. |
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6.249 | The PHAA further urged the Australian Government to ensure that no DU munitions are used on Australian soil (e.g. in joint military exercises) and that no Australian troops join any military coalition in which DU munitions might be used. However, the PHAA acknowledged that the Australian Defence Forces no longer use munitions that contain DU.243 |
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6.250 | In contrast, the UIC submitted that depleted uranium is not classified as a dangerous substance radiologically. Its emissions are very low, since the half life of U-238 is the same as the age of the earth (4.5 billion years). There were said to be no reputable reports of cancer or other negative health effects from radiation exposure to ingested or inhaled natural or depleted uranium.244 |
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6.251 | Some military personnel involved in the 1991 Gulf War later complained of continuing stress-like symptoms for which no obvious cause could be found. These symptoms have at times been attributed to the use of depleted uranium in shells and other missiles, which are said to have caused toxic effects. Similar complaints arose from later fighting in the Balkans, particularly the Kosovo conflict. |
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6.252 | Depleted uranium is a heavy metal and, in common with other heavy metals, is chemically toxic. Because it is also slightly radioactive, there is therefore said to be a hypothetical possibility that it could give rise to a radiological hazard under some circumstances such as dispersal in a finely divided form so that it is inhaled. However, because of the latency period for the induction of cancer for radiation, it is not credible that any cases of radiation induced cancer could yet be attributed to the Gulf and Kosovo conflicts. Furthermore, extensive studies have concluded that no radiological health hazard should be expected from exposure to depleted uranium. |
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6.253 | Moreover, the UIC argued that the risk from external exposure is essentially zero, even when pure metal is handled. No detectable increase of cancer, leukaemia, birth defects or other negative health effects have ever been observed from radiation exposure to inhaled or ingested natural uranium concentrates, at levels far exceeding those likely in areas where depleted uranium munitions are said to have been used. This is mainly because the low radioactivity per unit mass of uranium means that the mass needed for significant internal exposure would be virtually impossible to accumulate in the body, and depleted uranium is less than half as radioactive as natural uranium.245 |
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6.254 | Information published by the WHO states that a recent UN Environment Program report, giving field measurements taken around selected impact sites in Kosovo, indicates that contamination by DU in the environment was localised to a few tens of metres around impact sites. Contamination by DU dusts of local vegetation and water supplies was found to be extremely low. Thus, the probability of significant exposure to local populations was considered to be very low.246 |
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6.255 | A two-year study by SNL reported in 2005 that, consistent with earlier studies, reports of serious health risks from DU exposure during the 1991 Gulf War, both for military personnel and Iraqi civilians, are not supported by medical statistics or by analysis.247 |
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6.256 | The WHO also noted that because DU is only weakly radioactive, very large amounts of dust (in the order of grams) would have to be inhaled for the additional risk of lung cancer to be detectable in an exposed group. Risks for other radiation-induced cancers, including leukaemia, are considered to be very much lower than for lung cancer. Further, the WHO states that no reproductive or developmental effects have been reported in humans.248 |
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6.257 | The conditions for the use of AONM set out in Australia’s bilateral safeguards agreements, which are discussed at greater length in chapter eight, include the requirement that AONM will be used only for peaceful purposes and will not be diverted to military or explosive purposes. In this context, ‘military purpose’ includes depleted uranium munitions. |
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Radiation and public perceptions |
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6.258 | Throughout the chapter, including in the immediately preceding discussion of the health effects of depleted uranium, the Committee has cited statements of concern about radiation exposure and its effects on human health from various submitters. |
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6.259 | Other submitters responded that these concerns often reveal misunderstandings about the nature of radiation and misperceive the actual risks associated with radiation exposure from the normal operations of fuel cycle facilities, including uranium mining and milling. For example, Nova Energy submitted that:
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6.260 | As explained at the beginning of the chapter, all human beings are constantly exposed to background radiation and the contribution from nuclear power is less than one per cent. Professor Leslie Kemeny explained that:
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6.261 | Based on his conviction of the hormetic effects of exposure to very low doses of radiation, Professor Peter Parsons also argued that opposition to nuclear power is in part due to ‘acceptance by the public of phantom risks from radiation phobia based upon the invalid linear-no-threshold assumption’.251 |
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6.262 | Several submitters argued that the general understanding of radiation in Australia is poor and should be addressed in schools and through publicly available information. It was emphasised that there is a need for improved public education about the risks associated with radiation:
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6.263 | Similarly, Professor Ralph Parsons submitted that:
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6.264 | Likewise, Arafura Resources argued that there is a need for public eduction around the nature and risks associated with radiation exposure:
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6.265 | Similarly, the Australian Nuclear Forum (ANF) argued that:
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6.266 | Professor Kemeny emphasised that commonly held fears about radiation are often created and manipulated by the opponents of nuclear power. Accordingly, Professor Kemeny emphasised the importance of improved public education about nuclear matters and radiation in particular:
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6.267 | Finally, Professor Kemeny argued that the benefits of nuclear science and technology, in the fields of medicine, industry and environmental science, outweigh any risks:
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Conclusions |
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6.268 | The Committee concludes that nuclear power, like all other major energy industries, is not and nor could it ever be entirely risk free. However, notwithstanding the tragedy of the Chernobyl accident, the nuclear power industry’s safety record surpasses all others. |
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6.269 | In the 50 year history of civil nuclear power generation, which spans more than 12 000 cumulative reactor years of commercial operation in 32 countries, there have been only two significant accidents to nuclear power plants—at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986. Only the Chernobyl accident resulted in fatalities. |
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6.270 | There have been some 60 deaths directly attributed to the Chernobyl accident to date. However, not all these deaths were due to radiation exposure. While there have been more than 4 000 thyroid cancer cases, particularly among children and adolescents at the time of the accident, fortunately there have only been nine deaths documented by 2002. The survival rate has been almost 99 per cent. |
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6.271 | While the precise number of eventual deaths likely to be attributable to the Chernobyl accident is uncertain, the multi UN agency Chernobyl Forum report estimates that excess cancer deaths could rise to 3 960 over the lifetime of the most affected populations (Chernobyl liquidators, evacuees and residents of the strict control zones). |
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6.272 | Projections for cancer deaths among some six million residents of contaminated areas in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine are much less certain because they were generally exposed to doses not much higher than natural background radiation levels. Projections are based on statistical estimates using information from the studies of atomic bomb survivors, who were exposed to much higher radiation dose rates (high doses in a short time period), and employ the conservative linear no-threshold assumption that risk continues in a linear fashion at lower doses. Estimates suggest that up to 4 970 additional cancer deaths may occur in this population from radiation exposure, or about 0.6 per cent of the cancer deaths expected in this population due to other causes. |
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6.273 | That is, while emphasising that predictions should be treated with great caution, the Chernobyl Forum estimates that a total of up to 8 930 excess deaths from solid cancers and leukaemia might be expected over the course of a lifetime in the most exposed populations in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. This is a population of more than 7 million people, comprised of Chernobyl liquidators, evacuees, residents of strict control zones and persons living in ‘contaminated’ areas. |
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6.274 | Other Chernobyl-related radiation induced cancer deaths could occur elsewhere in Europe, although the dose to these populations is much lower again and the relative increase in cancer deaths is expected to be much smaller. Estimates for these populations are very uncertain and are not likely to be detected by monitoring national cancer statistics. |
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6.275 | In any case, the Committee notes the Chernobyl Forum’s findings that the most pressing health problems for areas most affected by the accident is not radiation exposure but poor life style factors associated with alcohol and tobacco use, as well as poverty. The largest public health problem has been the mental health impact. Persistent ‘misconceptions and myths’ about the threat of radiation have promoted a ‘paralysing fatalism’ among residents. |
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6.276 | The Chernobyl accident resulted from a flawed Soviet reactor design which would never have been certified for operation under regulatory regimes of western nations. The reactor was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety. In addition, the Chernobyl plant did not have a containment structure common to most nuclear plants elsewhere in the world. |
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6.277 | At Three Mile Island in the US , the plant design contained the radiation and there were no adverse health or environmental effects. |
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6.278 | The Chernobyl accident has led to a significant improvement in nuclear reactor safety worldwide, especially in the former Soviet Union where remaining reactors of the Chernobyl type have now been modified and in some cases shut down. The accident also led to increased international collaboration, peer review and knowledge exchange to improve plant safety, especially through the activities of WANO. |
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6.279 | Evidence suggests that, as for many other industries, nuclear reactor technology continues to evolve. For example, some so-called third generation reactor designs are ‘passively safe’; not requiring human intervention to prevent core melt accidents. Some fourth generation reactor designs, which represent the future for nuclear energy systems, are immune from the possibility of core melt accidents altogether. |
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6.280 | While the Chernobyl accident could lead, over the lifetime of the most exposed populations, to several thousand excess cancer deaths, other energy sources are responsible for killing thousands of workers and members of the public every year. For example, in addition to catastrophic events (e.g. 3 000 immediate fatalities in an oil transport accident in 1987 and 2 500 immediate fatalities in a hydro accident in 1979), more than 6 000 coal miners die each year in China alone. Evidence suggests that coal mining worldwide causes the deaths of 12 000 to 15 000 miners each year. On this basis, the fatality rate from coal mining worldwide exceeds, in just two days, the fatalities to date from the Chernobyl accident. Even in Australia , 112 coal miners have died in NSW mines alone since 1979. |
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6.281 | Moreover, the numbers of fatalities cited do not include the deaths and other health impacts likely to be caused by the release of toxic gases and particulates from burning fossil fuels. Neither do these considerations consider the possible health impacts and other risks associated with climate change arising from fossil fuel use. |
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6.282 | Naturally, the Committee regrets that fatalities have been caused by any form of energy generation. However, the Committee believes that no base-load power system is without risk of injury or fatalities and, of these, the nuclear’s industry’s safety performance is demonstrably superior to all others. |
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6.283 | In terms of the health hazards from the routine operations of nuclear fuel cycle facilities, evidence suggests that occupational radiation exposures are low. In fact, the average annual effective dose to monitored nuclear industry workers is less than the exposure of air crew in civil aviation, and is also less than the radon exposure in some above-ground workplaces. |
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6.284 | Globally, exposure by the general public to radiation from the whole fuel cycle is negligible. The average annual natural background radiation exposure is 2.4 mSv. In comparison, the average dose received by the public from nuclear power production is 0.0002 mSv and, hence, corresponds to less than one ten thousandth the total yearly dose received from natural background. |
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6.285 | Radiation exposure for workers at Australian uranium mines is well below (less than half) the prescribed average annual limit for workers of 20 mSv. The radiation exposure for the public in the vicinity of the mines is also far below the prescribed level of 1 mSv for members of the public. Indeed, at Beverley in South Australia, the nearest members of the public received a dose less than one hundredth the prescribed limit in 2005. |
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6.286 | The Committee acknowledges there have been incidents at the Ranger mine, for which ERA has been prosecuted. This is evidence of a willingness by regulators to pursue the company where necessary, contrary to the claims by the industry’s opponents. The Committee notes that ERA itself acknowledges that its performance in 2004 was not adequate and has taken steps to improve. The Australian Government is satisfied that the company has met the conditions required of it. The Committee also notes that the radiation doses received by workers and the public in the two incidents did not represent a significant health risk. |
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6.287 | The Committee is persuaded that uranium industry workers in Australia are not being exposed to unsafe doses of radiation. However, to provide greater assurance to workers and the public at large, and also to definitively answer claims—which the Committee is confident are entirely mistaken—that current radiation exposures are harming workers, the Committee recommends the establishment of:
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6.288 | It was emphasised that radiation protection standards are largely based on the LNT assumption that all radiation, even very low doses, carries some risk of damage to human health. The Committee well understands that this is the international norm, established by the ICRP, and accepts that basing protection standards on cautious assumptions is prudent. However, the Committee notes that there are arguments pointing to a beneficial effect from exposures to low doses of radiation, consistent with hormesis applicable to other environmental agents. |
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6.289 | The Committee’s primary concern is to ensure that fear of health risks from very low doses of radiation not be used as a justification to oppose further uranium mining and utilisation of nuclear power—particularly given that exposures to workers and the public in other industries (e.g. air travel) exceed that for the average nuclear industry worker and that natural background radiation, to which all people are constantly exposed, is significantly greater than the average public dose from the operation of the nuclear power industry. |
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6.290 | In the Committee’s view, some critics of uranium mining and nuclear power misconceive or exaggerate the health risks from the industry’s operations, for example, by wildly inaccurate assessments of the deaths attributable to the routine operations of the industry. This detracts from the credibility of these submitters—as does the dismissal of the 600-page Chernobyl Forum report as a ‘whitewash’. Such views have however influenced wider public opinion and public policy in a way detrimental to the industry, and have reduced the potential community and global benefits from use of nuclear power. |
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6.291 | The Committee agrees that, evidenced by observations made by some submitters, that there are commonly held misperceptions about: the nature of radiation; exposures to the public from the operations of the nuclear power industry, medical procedures and natural background; and the health hazards associated with the nuclear industry’s operations. Incorrect and exaggerated claims point to the need for the provision of authoritative information in this highly contested area of policy, particularly for the risks associated with exposure to radiation. The Committee returns to this matter in chapter 11 where it recommends strategies to improve public understanding in an attempt to dispel irrational fears associated with radiation. |
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6.292 | In the following two chapters the Committee addresses the third objection to the use of nuclear power—nuclear proliferation and the effectiveness of safeguards regimes. |
1 | Professor Leslie Kemeny, Exhibit no. 9, Power to the people, p. 2.Back |
2 | Mr Alan Eggers (Summit Resources Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 3 November 2005 , p. 3. Back |
3 | Dr Ron Cameron (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation), Transcript of Evidence, 13 October 2005 , p. 16. Back |
4 | Professor Leslie Kemeny , Exhibit no. 43, Pseudo-Science and Lost Opportunities, p. 6. Back |
5 | See: International Atomic Energy Agency, Radiation, People and the Environment, IAEA, Vienna , 2004, viewed 5 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/RadPeopleEnv/pdf/radiation_low.pdf>. Back |
6 | ibid ., pp. 13, 14, 30; Professor Leslie Kemeny , Exhibit no. 9, Power to the people, p. 2. Back |
7 | ARPANSA, Submission no. 32, p. 7. Back |
8 | IAEA, op. cit., p. 15. Back |
9 | ARPANSA, loc. cit. Back |
10 | IAEA, op. cit., pp. 16, 10. Back |
11 | ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 8. Back |
12 | ibid. Back |
13 | This risk is usually expressed as five per cent per sievert. Recent data gathered by the ICRP would put the risk calculated on the same basis as 4.4 per cent per sievert. Back |
14 | ibid. Back |
15 | Uranium Information Centre (UIC), Submission no. 12, p. 46; ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 9. Back |
16 | ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 9. Back |
17 | IAEA, op. cit., p. 28. Back |
18 | ARPANSA, loc. cit. Back |
19 | ACF, Submission no. 48, p. 16. Back |
20 | Mr Justin Tutty , op. cit., p. 5; Mr John Schindler , Submission no. 10, p. 1; Mrs Judy Forsyth, Submission no. 74, p. 2. Back |
21 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), Exhibit no. 50, Risk of cancer after low doses of ionising radiation: retrospective cohort study in 15 countries, pp. 1, 5. Back |
22 | Professor Ralph Parsons , Submission no. 24, p. 1. See also: Dr Clarence Hardy (Australian Nuclear Association), Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005 , p. 60. Back |
23 | Professor Peter A Parsons , Exhibit no. 23, Radiation Phobia and Phantom Risks, p. 1. Back |
24 | Professor Peter A Parsons , Submission no. 34, p. 1. Back |
25 | ibid ., p. 2. Back |
26 | ibid . Back |
27 | Dr John Loy (ARPANSA), Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005, p. 77. Back |
28 | ARPANSA, op. cit ., p. 2. Back |
29 | ibid ., pp. 3, 4. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Submission no. 55, p. 22. Back |
30 | ibid ., p. 3. Back |
31 | ARPANSA/NOHSC, Recommendations for Limiting Exposure to Ionizing Radiation and National Standard for Limiting Occupational Exposure to Ionizing Radiation, ARPANSA, Sydney, 2002, viewed 12 September 2006, <http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/rps/rps1.pdf>. Back |
32 | ARPANSA, Exhibit no. 67, Code of Practice and Safety Guide forRadiationProtection and Radioactive Waste Management in Mining and Mineral Processing. Back |
33 | Dr John Loy , op. cit., p. 70. Back |
34 | UIC, op. cit., p. 47. Back |
35 | See: ARPANSA, National Directory for Radiation Protection – Edition 1.0, ARPANSA, Melbourne , 2004, viewed 12 September 2006 , <http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/rps/rps6.pdf>; ARPANSA, Submission no. 32, pp. 6–7. Back |
36 | Dr John Loy , loc. cit. Back |
37 | ARPANSA, Submission no. 32, p. 10. Dr G Mudd , Exhibit no. 14, Uranium Mill Tailings Wastes in Australia , p. 1. Back |
38 | MAPW (WA Branch), Submission no. 8, p. 2. See also: B K Daly-King, Submission no. 3, p. 1. Back |
39 | Mr Daniel Taylor , Submission no. 85, p. 17. See also: Mrs Judy Forsyth , Submission no. 74, p. 2. Back |
40 | Dr Helen Caldicott, Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005, pp. 2–3. Back |
41 | Ms Janet Marsh, Submission no. 2, p. 1. Back |
42 | PHAA, Submission no. 53, p. 4. Back |
43 | Dr Gavin Mudd , Exhibit no.18, Uranium mining in Australia : Environmental impact, radiation releases and rehabilitation , p. 9. Back |
44 | GAC, Submission no. 44, p. 36. Back |
45 | Mr Ian Hore-Lacy (UIC), Transcript of Evidence, 19 August 2005 , p. 89. Back |
46 | UIC, Submission no. 12, p. 45. Back |
47 | AMEC, Submission no. 20, p. 4. Back |
48 | Summit Resources Ltd, Submission no. 15, p. 33. Back |
49 | ARPANSA, loc. cit. Back |
50 | Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA), Social and Environmental Report 2005, ERA, Darwin , 2006, p. 15, viewed 13 September 2006 , <http://www.energyres.com.au/corporate/ERA_SE_Rep05ART.pdf>. Back |
51 | Information provided by Mr Richard Yeeles (BHP Billiton Ltd), 13 September 2006 . Information available in the Olympic Dam Radiation Protection Annual Report (August 2006) provided to the South Australian Government. Back |
52 | Information provided by Ms Nicole Allen (Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd), 13 September 2006 . See also: Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd, Annual Environmental Report 2005, Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd, Adelaide , 2005, p. 32, viewed 13 September 2006 , <http://www.heathgateresources.com.au/contentsustainability.jsp?xcid=452>. Back |
53 | See: Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd, Occupational Health and Safety, viewed 13 September 2006 , <http://www.heathgateresources.com.au/contentsustainability.jsp?xcid=356>. Back |
54 | UIC, op. cit., p. 46; MCA, Submission no. 36, p. 18. Back |
55 | Mr R W Fox , Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry First Report, AGPS, Canberra , 1976, p. 176. Back |
56 | Mr Andrew Crooks , Submission no. 84, p. 10. Back |
57 | See: ARPANSA, Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, 2001, viewed 29 August 2006 , <http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/rps/rps2.pdf>. Back |
58 | ARPANSA, Submission no. 32, pp. 5–6. Back |
59 | Cited in the Hon Alexander Downer MP , Submission no. 33, p. 9. Back |
60 | IAEA, States Agree on Stronger Physical Protection Regime , Press Release, 8 July 2005, viewed 26 July 2006, <http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2005/prn200503.html>. Back |
61 | The Hon Alexander Downer MP , op. cit., p. 8. Back |
62 | ibid . Back |
63 | ARPANSA, Submission no. 32, p. 11; ANSTO, Submission no. 29, p. 20. Back |
64 | Mr Michael Fewster (Eaglefield Holdings Pty Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 32. Back |
65 | ibid ., p. 34. Back |
66 | Dr Peter Masters (MAPW – WA Branch), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 44. Back |
67 | Dr Helen Caldicott, op. cit., p. 3. Back |
68 | Mr John Schindler , Submission no. 10, p. 1. See also: MAPW (Victorian Branch), Submission no. 30, p. 15. See also: Alice Action Executive Committee, Submission no. 79, p. 1. Back |
69 | CFMEU, Exhibit no. 11, Submission by CFMEU to Senate Environment Committee, p. 7. Back |
70 | PHAA, Submission no. 53, p. 4. Back |
71 | FOE, Submission no. 52, p. 9. Back |
72 | ARPANSA/NOHSC, op. cit., p. 75. Back |
73 | ARPANSA, Submission no. 32.1, p. 2. Back |
74 | Dr John Loy , op. cit., p. 75. Back |
75 | Dr Roger Higgins (BHP Billiton Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 2 November 2005 , p. 19. Back |
76 | Mr Steve Green (BHP Billiton Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 2 November 2005 , p. 19. Back |
77 | ibid., pp. 19–20. Back |
78 | MCA, op. cit., p. 17. Back |
79 | Dr John Loy , op. cit., p. 76. Back |
80 | ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 10. Back |
81 | Dr John Loy , loc. cit. Back |
82 | ACF, op. cit., p. 20. Back |
83 | ibid ., p. 21; GAC, op. cit., p. 58. Back |
84 | Mr Justin Tutty , op. cit., pp. 5–6; CFMEU, op. cit., p. 2; Back |
85 | DEH, Submission no. 55, pp. 22–23. Back |
86 | ibid . Back |
87 | Mr Harry Kenyon-Slaney (ERA), Transcript of Evidence, 24 October 2005, p. 53. Back |
88 | DEH, loc. cit. Back |
89 | Supervising Scientist, Annual Report 2004–2005, DEH, Darwin, 2005, pp. 34–35. Back |
90 | ERA, 2005 Annual Report, ERA, Darwin , 2006, p. 13, viewed 26 September 2006 , <http://www.energyres.com.au/corporate/era-ar-2005.pdf>. Back |
91 | Mr Harry Kenyon-Slaney , loc. cit. Back |
92 | Dr Helen Caldicott, op. cit., pp. 4–5. Back |
93 | Dr Helen Caldicott, Exhibit no. 24, Nuclear power is the problem, not the solution, p. 1. Back |
94 | Uniting Church in Australia (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania), Submission no. 40, p. 12. Back |
95 | Associate Professor Tilman Ruff (MAPW–Victorian Branch), Transcript of Evidence, 19 August 2005 , p. 25. Back |
96 | Mr Justin Tutty , Submission no. 41, p. 5; Uniting Church in Australia (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania ), loc. cit.; Dr Helen Caldicott, Exhibit no. 24, Nuclear power is the problem, not a solution, p. 2. Back |
97 | Dr Clarence Hardy (ANA), Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005 , p. 59. Back |
98 | MCA, loc. cit. Back |
99 | See: UNSCEAR, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Report to the UN General Assembly, 2000, Volume I, Annex E, UNSCEAR, Vienna, 2000, p. 584, viewed 14 September 2006 , <http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/annexe.pdf>. Back |
100 | ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 17. Back |
101 | UNSCEAR, op. cit., p. 647. Back |
102 | Information provided by S Thorogood (ANSTO), 13 February 2006 . ANSTO, Media Release, ‘ANSTO Mortality Below National Level: Latest Report’, 1 June 2005 , viewed 22 September 2006 , <http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/2005/anstomedia013_010605.pdf>. Back |
103 | ANSTO, Media Release, Largest Study of International Radiation Workers: Standards Meet the Mark, 29 June 2005 , viewed 22 September 2006 , <http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/2005/anstomedia019_290605.pdf>. Back |
104 | IAEA, op. cit., p. 12. Back |
105 | UNSCEAR, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Report to the UN General Assembly, 2000, Volume I, Annex C, UNSCEAR, Vienna, 2000, p. 190, viewed 15 September 2006, <http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/annexc.pdf>; ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 15. Back |
106 | UNSCEAR, op. cit., pp. 190, 194. Back |
107 | ARPANSA, loc. cit. Back |
108 | ibid., pp. 13, 20. Back |
109 | UNSCEAR, op. cit., pp. 181–182. Back |
110 | ibid., p. 190. Back |
111 | ARPANSA, op. cit., p. 20. Back |
112 | FOE et. al., Exhibit no. 71, Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change, section 5.2 Comparing alternative energy sources. Back |
113 | Dr John Loy, op. cit., pp. 73–74. Back |
114 | Dr Ron Cameron (ANSTO), Transcript of Evidence, 13 October 2005 , p. 16. Back |
115 | ACF, op. cit., p. 15. Back |
116 | Mr Justin Tutty, op. cit., p. 5. Back |
117 | ALEC, Submission no. 75, p. 3. Back |
118 | Mr John Klepetko, Submission no. 86, p. 1. Back |
119 | Mr David Addison , Submission no. 59, p. 1. Back |
120 | Dr Peter Masters (MAPW – WA Branch), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 36. Back |
121 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper No. 14, viewed 19 September 2006 , <http://www.uic.com.au/nip14.htm>. Back |
122 | Nuclear incidents and accidents are classified according to an International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) developed by the IAEA and OECD in 1990. The scale runs from a zero event with no safety significance to a seven for a ‘major accident’ such as Chernobyl . TMI rated five, as an ‘accident with off-site risks’. Back |
123 | AMP CISFT, Submission no. 60, p. 6. Back |
124 | Areva, Submission no. 39, p. 6. Back |
125 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, loc. cit. Back |
126 | Professor Leslie Kemeny , Exhibit no. 9, op. cit., p. 2. Back |
127 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, loc. cit. Back |
128 | ibid. Back |
129 | Areva, loc. cit. Back |
130 | Mr Jerry Grandey (Cameco Corporation), Transcript of Evidence, 11 August 2005 , p. 11. Back |
131 | ANSTO, Exhibit no. 74, Presentation by DrRonCameron and DrIanSmith, slide no. 46. Back |
132 | Traditional reactor safety systems are ‘active’ in the sense that they involve electrical or mechanical operation on command. Some engineered systems operate passively, eg pressure relief valves. Both require parallel redundant systems. Inherent or full passive safety depends only on physical phenomena such as convection, gravity or resistance to high temperatures, not on functioning of engineered components. Back |
133 | See also: UIC, Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper No. 16, August 2006, viewed 20 September 2006 , <http://www.uic.com.au/nip16.htm>. Back |
134 | Areva, op. cit., p. 7. See also: Areva, EPR: A reactor for maximum safety, viewed 20 September 2006 , <http://www.areva-np.com/>. Back |
135 | Dr Ron Cameron (ANSTO), Transcript of Evidence, 13 October 2005 , p. 11. See also: US Department of Energy, Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems, viewed 20 September 2006 , <http://gen-iv.ne.doe.gov/documents/geni.pdf>; Generation IV International Forum, Fact Sheet, viewed 20 September 2006 , <http://www.gen-4.org/GIF/About/factsheet.htm>. Back |
136 | See: IAEA, INPRO Status 2005, viewed 20 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/NENP/NPTDS/Downloads/Brochure/2005_INPRO_Brochure.pdf>. Back |
137 | Nova Energy Ltd, Submission no. 50, p. 14. See: MP LaBar , The Gas Turbine – Modular Helium Reactor: A Promising Option for Near Term Deployment, General Atomics , San Diego USA , 2002, pp. 7–8, viewed 20 September 2006, <http://gt-mhr.ga.com/2hieff_all.html>; Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Pty Ltd, How safe is PBMR?, viewed 20 September 2006, <http://www.pbmr.com/index.asp?content=5>. Back |
138 | Dr Michael Goldsworthy (Silex Systems Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 9 February 2006, p. 4. Back |
139 | Mr Richard Pearce (Nova Energy Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005, p. 71. Back |
140 | Mr Stephen Mann (Areva), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 10. Back |
141 | Mr Alan Layton (AMEC), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 15. Back |
142 | Dr Patrick Moore , ‘Greenpeace co-founder welcomes nuclear debate’, AM, ABC Radio, 8 June 2006 , transcript of interview with David Weber . Back |
143 | Dr Ian Woods (AMP CISFT), Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005 , p. 30. Back |
144 | AMP CISFT, Submission no. 60, p. 6. Back |
145 | AMP CISFT, Exhibit no. 65, The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Position Paper, p. 16; Dr Ian Woods, op. cit., p. 28. Back |
146 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), op. cit., p. 12. Back |
147 | IAEA, Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 2005, IAEA, Vienna , 2005, p. 2, viewed 21 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC50/GC50InfDocuments/English/gc50inf-2_en.pdf>. Back |
148 | See: IAEA, Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 2004, IAEA, Vienna , 2004, p. 3, viewed 22 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Reports/nsr2004.pdf>. Back |
149 | For an overview of the IAEA’s activities in relation to nuclear safety and security in 2005 see: IAEA, IAEA Annual report 2005, viewed 22 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Reports/Anrep2005/>. Back |
150 | IAEA, Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 2004, op. cit., p. 6. Back |
151 | Areva, op. cit., p. 6. Back |
152 | IAEA, Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 2005, op. cit., p. 3. Back |
153 | See: WANO, What is WANO?, viewed 21 September 2006 , <http://www.wano.org.uk/WANO_Documents/What_is_Wano.asp>; Areva, loc. cit. Back |
154 | IAEA, Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 2005,op. cit., p. 5. Back |
155 | ibid., pp. i, 6. Back |
156 | ibid., p. 20. Back |
157 | OECD-NEA, The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, OECD-NEA, Paris, 2005, pp. 300, 18. Back |
158 | NEI, The Chernobyl Accident and Its Consequences, NEI, Washington DC , April 2006, viewed 25 September 2006 , <http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?catnum=3&catid=296>. Back |
159 | UIC, Chernobyl Accident, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper No. 22, viewed 25 September 2006 , <http://www.uic.com.au/nip22.htm>. Back |
160 | The Chernobyl Forum: 2003–2005, Chernobyl ’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts (Summary Report), IAEA, Vienna , 2006, p. 10, viewed 25 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/Chernobyl/chernobyl.pdf>. Back |
161 | UIC, Submission no. 12, p. 12. Back |
162 | ibid . Back |
163 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), Submission no. 30, p. 12. Back |
164 | Dr Helen Caldicott, Exhibit no. 25, Nuclear Madness, p. 134. Back |
165 | ibid., p. 135. Back |
166 | FOE, Exhibit no. 71, Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change, Section 5.3 Chernobyl . Back |
167 | The Chernobyl Forum, op. cit., p. 14. Back |
168 | ibid ., p. 15. See also: WHO, The Health Effects of Chernobyl : An Overview , Fact Sheet No. 303, April 2006, viewed 28 September 2006 , <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs303/en/index.html>. Back |
169 | WHO, Health effects of the Chernobyl accident and special care programs, Report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Group ‘Health’, WHO, Geneva, 2006, p. 106, viewed 28 September 2006, <http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/who_chernobyl_report_2006.pdf >. Back |
170 | ibid. Back |
171 | WHO, The Health Effects of Chernobyl: An Overview, loc. cit. Back |
172 | ibid. Back |
173 | WHO, Health effects of the Chernobyl accident and special care programs, op. cit., p. 104. Back |
174 | The Chernobyl Forum, op. cit., p. 16. Back |
175 | ibid., p. 19. See for example: Mr Daniel Taylor , Submission no. 85, p. 6. Back |
176 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), Submission no. 30.1, p. 11. Back |
177 | ibid., p. 16. Back |
178 | E Cardis et. al, The Cancer Burden from Chernobyl in Europe: Briefing Document, WHO/IARC, April 2006, viewed 28 September 2006 , <http://www.iarc.fr./chernobyl/briefing7.php>. Back |
179 | Dr Helen Caldicott , Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005 , pp. 5, 6; Dr Stephen Masters (MAPW – WA Branch), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 39. Back |
180 | MAPW (Western Australian Branch), Submission no. 8, p. 6; MAPW (Victorian Branch), Submission no. 30.1, pp. 12–14; Dr Helen Caldicott , op. cit., p. 5. Back |
181 | Dr Helen Caldicott , loc. cit. Back |
182 | ibid . Back |
183 | Dr Clarence Hardy (ANA), Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005 , p. 60. Back |
184 | The Chernobyl Forum, op. cit., p. 19; WHO, Health effects of the Chernobyl accident and special care programs, op. cit., p. 106. Back |
185 | The Chernobyl Forum, op. cit., p. 37. Back |
186 | ibid., pp. 21, 35. Back |
187 | ibid., p. 41. Back |
188 | Cited in IAEA, ‘ Chernobyl : The True Scale of the Accident’, Press Release, 5 September 2005 , viewed 25 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2005/prn200512.html>. Back |
189 | Cited in IAEA, ‘ Chernobyl : The True Scale of the Accident’, loc. cit. Back |
190 | IAEA, ‘The enduring lessons of Chernobyl ’, Statement of the Director General, 6 September 2005 , viewed 25 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2005/ebsp2005n008.html>. Back |
191 | Dr Ron Cameron (ANSTO), Transcript of Evidence, 13 October 2005 , pp. 9–10. Back |
192 | ibid ., p. 10. Back |
193 | Mr Jerry Grandey, op. cit., p. 11. Back |
194 | ibid. Back |
195 | ibid. Back |
196 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, loc. cit. Back |
197 | See: UIC, Chernobyl Accident, loc. cit . Back |
198 | Dr Rod Hill (CSIRO), Transcript of Evidence, 19 August 2005, p. 8. Back |
199 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, loc. cit. Back |
200 | Dr Roger Higgins (BHP Billiton Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 2 November 2005 , p. 23. Back |
201 | PSI, Comprehensive Assessment of Energy Systems: Severe Accidents in the Energy Sector, PSI, Villigen , Switzerland , 1998, pp. 298, 292, viewed 26 September 2006, <http://gabe.web.psi.ch/pdfs/PSI_Report/ENSAD98.pdf>. Back |
202 | ibid ., pp. xix, 277. Back |
203 | ibid., p. 298. Back |
204 | ibid., p. 278. Back |
205 | FOE et. al., Exhibit no. 71, op. cit., section 5.2. Back |
206 | UIC, Submission no. 12, p. 12. Back |
207 | ANSTO, Submission no. 29.1, p. 1; Dr Ron Cameron (ANSTO), Transcript of Evidence, 13 October 2005 , p. 10. There has been one death at Ranger (in 1996) and two deaths at Olympic Dam (1992 and 2005). Back |
208 | Jindalee Resources Ltd, Submission no. 31, p. 3. See also: Mr Andrew Crooks , Submission no. 84, pp. 11, 17. Back |
209 | Dr Helen Caldicott , Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005 , p. 15. Back |
210 | Mr Donald Kennedy (Jindalee Resources Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 58. Back |
211 | Summit Resources Ltd, Submission no. 15, p. 33. Back |
212 | AMP CISFT, op. cit., p. 6. Back |
213 | Mr Alan Eggers (Summit Resources Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 3 November 2005 , p. 2. Back |
214 | ibid., p. 3. Back |
215 | ibid. Back |
216 | Mr Richard Pearce (Nova Energy Ltd), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005, p. 69. Back |
217 | Mr R W Fox, op. cit., p. 177. Emphasis added. Back |
218 | See: Dr Mohamed ElBaradei , Nuclear Terrorism: Identifying and Combating the Risks, Statement of the Director General, IAEA, Vienna , 16 March 2005 , viewed 14 July 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2005/ebsp2005n003.html>. Back |
219 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), Submission no. 30, p. 13. Back |
220 | ibid., p. 14. Back |
221 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), Exhibit no. 52, Vulnerability of Us nuclear power plants to terrorists, p. 2; Dr Helen Caldicott, Exhibit no. 24, op. cit., p. 2. Back |
222 | MAPW (Victorian Branch), Submission no. 30, p. 14. Back |
223 | Cited in MAPW (Victorian Branch), Exhibit no. 54, Nuclear Power and the Terrorist Threat, p. 1. See also: FOE et. al., Exhibit no. 71, Nuclear Power: No solution to climate change, section 3.8. Back |
224 | See: NEI, Deterring Terrorism: Aircraft Crash Impact Analyses Demonstrate Nuclear Power Plant’s Structural Strength, December 2002, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.nei.org/documents/EPRINuclearPlantStructuralStudy200212.pdf>. Back |
225 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, loc. cit. Back |
226 | Mr Stephen Mann (Areva), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005 , p. 10. Back |
227 | NRC, Frequently Asked Questions About Security Assessments at Nuclear Power Plants, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/safeguards/faq-security-assess-nuc-pwr-plants.html#1>. Back |
228 | NRC, Frequently Asked Questions About NRC’s Response to the 9/11/01 Events , viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/safeguards/faq-911.html#17>. Back |
229 | NEI, Post-Sept. 11 Security Enhancements: More Personnel, Patrols, Equipment, Barriers, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.nei.org/index.asp?catnum=2&catid=275>. Back |
230 | NEI, Nuclear Power Plant Security, March 2005, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?catnum=3&catid=290>. Back |
231 | UIC, Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, loc. cit. Back |
232 | IAEA, IAEA Annual Report for 2005, ‘The year in Review’, IAEA, Vienna , 2006, p. 7, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Reports/Anrep2005/yearreview.pdf>. Back |
233 | Mr R W Fox, op. cit., p. 178. Back |
234 | UIC, Submission no. 12, p. 33. Back |
235 | See: UIC, Uranium and Depleted Uranium, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper No. 53, October 2005, viewed 29 September 2006 , < http://www.uic.com.au/nip53.htm>. Back |
236 | ibid . Back |
237 | Ms Ilona Renwick, Submission no. 76.1, p. 1. Back |
238 | Darwin No-WAR Committee, Submission no. 13, p. 2. Back |
239 | ibid ., p. 3. Back |
240 | PHAA, op. cit., p. 2 Back |
241 | Mrs Judy Forsyth, op. cit., p. 4. Back |
242 | ibid., p. 1. Back |
243 | PHAA, loc. cit. Back |
244 | UIC, Submission no. 12, p. 33. Back |
245 | ibid. Back |
246 | WHO, Depleted Uranium, Fact Sheet No. 257, January 2003, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs257/en/print.html>. Back |
247 | See: SNL, An Analysis of Uranium Dispersal and Health Effects Using a Gulf War Case Study, SNL, Albuquerque , New Mexico , July 2005, viewed 29 September 2006 , <http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2005/def-nonprolif-sec/snl-dusand.pdf>. Back |
248 | WHO, Depleted Uranium, loc. cit. Back |
249 | Nova Energy Ltd, Submission no. 50, p. 26. Back |
250 | Professor Leslie Kemeny, Exhibit no. 43, Pseudo-Science and Lost Opportunities, pp. 4–5. Back |
251 | Professor Peter Parsons, Exhibit no. 23, op. cit., p. 2. Back |
252 | Name withheld, Submission no. 25, p. 2. Back |
253 | Professor Ralph Parsons, op. cit., p. 1. Back |
254 | Mr Alistair Stephen (Arafura Resources NL), Transcript of Evidence, 23 September 2005, p. 51. Back |
255 | Mr Jim Brough (ANF), Transcript of Evidence, 16 September 2005, p. 43. Back |
256 | Professor Leslie Kemeny, op. cit., pp. 4, 6. Emphasis in original. Back |
257 | Professor Leslie Kemeny, Exhibit no. 9, op. cit., p. 3. Back |
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