Q&A
-
Q&A Water
Question: Does nuclear consume too much water? Answer: Water isn’t consumed in the way most people think about it. It is warmed and returned to where it came from. A small amount is turned into clouds and rain. The amount of cooling water used by a nuclear plant is slightly more than the amount used by a similar capacity coal…
Read More » -
Questions and Answers on Cost and Bans
Question: Is nuclear energy going to be too expensive for Australia? Answer: Until the ban is lifted and vendors do full costing for Australia, we will not know the real cost of nuclear energy in Australia. Overseas experience shows that the cost of constructing nuclear power plants is reasonable when a proven design already built and licensed elsewhere is selected…
Read More » -
Q: Can Australia prevent accidents when it is new to nuclear power?
A: Australia already has a regulatory system and nuclear expertise from safely and successfully operating a nuclear research reactor which can be readily enhanced for nuclear energy. Currently, Australia has a federal ban on nuclear power, but it does have extensive experience regulating nuclear technology on a smaller scale. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) runs the OPAL…
Read More » -
Q: Can nuclear power plants handle the extreme weather and earthquakes of Australia?
A: They currently handle much worse in countries like America and Japan. Australia has powerful cyclones in the north, severe floods, bushfires, and even earthquakes. But nuclear power plants worldwide are explicitly designed to handle worst-case scenarios. Design standards require that a nuclear plant be able to shut down safely after events like large earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, and hurricanes,…
Read More » -
Q: Could an accident like Fukushima happen again?
A: Not only were all existing reactors updated to account for a Fukushima-type situation, but new reactors have those improvements built in. Nuclear safety continuously improves with each generation of reactor technology by incorporating lessons from past events. Modern nuclear plants are designed with multiple layers of redundant safety systems so that even if one system fails, others prevent an…
Read More » -
Q: Is it safe to have a nuclear reactor in Australia?
A: It is as safe as other clean energy, like solar and wind, and a lot safer than oil and gas. Coal-fired power plants emit air pollutants that cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses; hundreds of Australians die prematurely each year due to coal pollution, and it’s estimated to cost the country around $2.4 billion annually in health expenses. Nuclear power…
Read More » -
Questions and Answers on Nuclear Waste
Question: How can Australia handle all the nuclear waste from several nuclear power plants? Answer: Australia already manages radioactive waste and spent fuel and has the expertise and capability to enhance its facilities to handle increased amounts of nuclear waste from a nuclear energy program Australia has been dealing with radioactive materials for decades. In fact, we already manage low-…
Read More »