Coalition pledges to ditch nuclear sites if earthquake zones are declared unsafe

Proposed nuclear sites would be abandoned if studies reveal unacceptable risks, the Coalition has declared following an earthquake near its planned Hunter Valley site, raising questions about other selected locations close to geological fault lines.

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck near Muswellbrook in NSW’s Upper Hunter region on Friday, several kilometres from the Liddell coal plant where the opposition has pledged to build a nuclear reactor if elected. The quake damaged buildings in the town while tremors were felt as far away as Sydney.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Monday a nuclear reactor “would have dealt very adequately with the recent tremors that we’ve seen”.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, Getty Images

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien pledged that if the Coalition formed government, it would establish an independent nuclear authority that would conduct detailed studies of the proposed sites.

“If [the studies] come back with advice that says any power plant should not proceed, then a power plant would not proceed, full stop,” he told ABC radio on Friday. “That is absolutely key.”

The opposition has already pointed out that nuclear reactors are routinely built to withstand significant seismic activity across the world.

Associate Professor Edward Obbard, a nuclear materials engineer at UNSW, said all nuclear reactors were constructed to withstand far greater seismic disturbances than last week’s Hunter Valley earthquake. The area regularly experiences tremors, with a magnitude 4.4 quake in 2019 the most recent significant magnitude.

“The entire reactor fleet in Japan is constructed to seismic requirements that far outweigh anything that Australia would require and so are nuclear power plants on the West Coast of the United States, which is also an earthquake zone,” Obbard said.

“The design margins and safety factors are so far above any normal piece of infrastructure that if there was ever an earthquake that big that the Hunter region was razed to the ground, the nuclear power plant would be the only building still standing.”

Four of the opposition’s seven proposed nuclear sites are located near active fault lines: Port Augusta in South Australia, Lithgow in NSW, Collie in Western Australia and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria – an area that has had seven seismic events this year ranging from magnitudes of 2 to 4.3.

Latrobe Valley resident Wendy Farmer, president of the Voices of the Valley group, is helping to establish an alliance of anti-nuclear groups from the communities selected for plants.

Farmer said the opposition should have studied its selected sites before nominating them for reactors.

“Had they taken time to either speak to companies or communities, they would have already known this,” she said.

Hunter Community Environment Centre co-ordinator Jo Lynch said she was concerned about nuclear waste, considering the millions of tonnes of fly ash stored in dams across her region.

“I am concerned about waste management from a nuclear facility. Just looking at the track record with coal, that was a result of outdated environmental laws,” Lynch said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Monday a nuclear reactor “would have dealt very adequately with the recent tremors that we’ve seen”.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the opposition’s nuclear plans created uncertainty over future energy development.

“If Peter Dutton and Ted O’Brien are going to start ruling out sites based on seismic risk, what is their plan for those energy communities and how will they keep the lights on?” Bowen asked.

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