Nuclear power FAQs: Is it safe? When will see stations running?

As seven sites for proposed nuclear power plants are revealed, expert Adi Paterson answers questions on cost, efficiency, and why modern plants aren’t “Chernobyl in disguise”.

We asked expert Adi Paterson some of the most asked questions people have on nuclear power stations in Australia.

HOW DOES NUCLEAR ENERGY WORK?

Instead of burning coal to heat water and make steam, heat is generated from the decay of uranium into smaller atoms. That heat is then managed in a nuclear reactor.

The coal is replaced, but everything downstream remains the same. “It’s not complicated, it’s not scary,” Mr Paterson said.

IS IT SAFE?

Mr Paterson said nuclear power was safe and Australia had been successfully running nuclear research reactors for years, including one at Lucas Heights in Sydney.

“There is no way any modern nuclear reactor is a Chernobyl in disguise. It is a disgusting and misleading thing,” he said.

HOW EFFICIENT IS IT?

Only a “tiny” amount of material is needed to create energy.

Mr Paterson said while solar panels last 25 years, nuclear power plants can run from 80 to 100 years.

He said the amount of waste generated is significantly less than coal and wind turbines,

“Instead of repurposing wind turbines, the waste from nuclear is a lot more simple,” he said.

WILL IT GET INTO GROUNDWATER?

“There is absolutely no evidence that any modern nuclear power plant has impacted the groundwater,” he said. “We use nuclear science and technology to understand and research groundwater.”

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

The cost will depend on complex negotiations, and in the absence of proper nuclear policy and lifting the bans, it will be difficult to estimate, Mr Paterson says.

Mr Paterson said he did not think the CSIRO was the appropriate body to comment on the price of the power plants which the CSIRO estimated would cost $8.5bn.

CAN STATIONS BE BUILT BY 2037?

With the supply chain available in the Emirates and US, and a properly financed regulator, it is entirely possible to achieve those timelines, Mr Paterson says.

“We could accelerate it if the bans were lifted and a new and competent authority was created between the states and territory that kept AEMO (the Australian Energy Market Operator – which manages an array of electricity and gas markets) out of the picture.

Originally published as Nuclear power FAQs: Is it safe? When will see stations running?