Coalition reactors coincide with fault lines
Thomas Wellock’s warnings, quoted in Fiona Colin’s letter (17/9), about the likelihood of the next major nuclear accident must be heeded. The map showing Australia’s active fault lines would surprise most Australians because they are located where most of us live, along the coast. And several of the Coalition’s recently announced nuclear power plants are located on, or near, several of these fault lines.
Indeed, in one recent two-week period, one such site, Muswellbrook in NSW, experienced three earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and above. And Geoscience Australia mapping data shows several significant fault lines in the Latrobe Valley, another proposed location.
According to the Australian Climate Service, earthquakes such as the destructive Newcastle earthquake (magnitude 5) in 1989, occur every one to two years. Larger earthquakes (magnitude 6 or more) are less frequent but still occur every 10 years on average. As well as the cost of its nuclear proposal, the Coalition must also come up with the risk of a major incident.
References
Map of fault lines
Nuclear locations
Muswellbrook quake
Aust Climate Service
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