Research show nuclear plume from potential Australian disasters based on Fukushima data

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Image: Fukushima nuclear plume mapped over Mt Piper with wind conditions carrying radiation all the way over Sydney
Today is the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, and this morning Don’t Nuke the Climate released a huge research project that shows what a Fukushima-style nuclear disaster would look like if it happened at one of Dutton’s seven proposed reactor sites.
 
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Fukushima nuclear plume mapped over Mt Piper with wind conditions carrying radiation all the way over Sydney
The project – launched today at nuclearplume.au takes the radiation plume maps from the Fukushima disaster and maps them over the seven proposed sites, allowing people to adjust for different wind conditions.
For the first time, Australians from Sydney to Perth are able to see, in detail, the risks Dutton’s nuclear plan is putting on their communities.
 
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Fukushima nuclear plume mapped over Collie with wind conditions carrying radiation all the way over Perth

KEY FINDINGS:

  • Almost 200,000 Australians live in 245 towns and suburbs within 30km evacuation zones of the seven sites
  • 33 hospitals and medical centres are located within 30km evacuation zones of the seven sites
  • 99 schools and 62 daycares are located within 30km evacuation zones of the seven sites
  • Radioactive pollution can spread over 200km from the reactor site, putting even more communities at risk

GOOGLE DOC EXPLAINER

Nuclear accidents and evacuation zones

Nuclear accident mapping
Australian scenarios

Research by Dr. Jim Green
nuclear.foe.org.au
jim.green@foe.org.au

Risk assessments consider both the
frequency and the impacts of potential
accidents.

Frequency:
The introduction of nuclear
power to Australia would result in a “non-
negligible“ risk of a “catastrophic failing
within a nuclear system” according to Dr.
Ziggy Switkowski, who led a nuclear power
inquiry under the Howard government in
2006.

Impacts:
For nuclear power plants, the
impacts of disasters such as Chernobyl and
Fukushima are profound and continuing.
Following the nuclear meltdowns, fires
and explosions that destroyed reactors
at Fukushima in March 2011, there was a
mandatory evacuation zone out to 20 kms.
In different parts of the zone from 20 kms to
30 kms, evacuation was either mandatory or
residents could choose between evacuation
and sheltering indoors. There was an
additional mandatory evacuation zone
beyond the 30 km zone to the north-west
(Iitate).
The US Government advised US citizens
within 80 kms of the Fukushima plant to
evacuate.
Areas were divided into Intensive
Contamination Survey Areas (7,836 sq km),
Special Decontamination Zone (1,117 sq km)
and Difficult-to-Return Zone (335 sq km). The
mandatory evacuation zone covered 807 sq
kms.
Over 191,000 people evacuated
contaminated and threatened areas
including 165,000 people who were required
to evacuate and an estimated 26,600
who voluntarily evacuated. For many, their
displacement and dislocation is ongoing,
with the worst affected being women and
children.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Cecilia
Jiménez-Damary noted in 2022 that “many
displaced persons are unable or unwilling to
return to their areas of origin due to lingering
fears regarding radiation levels, or concerns
about access to basic services including
education, healthcare, and jobs in these
areas.”
The UN Special Rapporteur further noted
that since the Fukushima disaster, evacuees
have faced challenges in accessing basic
rights including housing, health, livelihood,
participation, and education for children.

After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine,
an initial 30 km evacuation zone (2,827 sq
km) was replaced by a larger evacuation
zone covering 4,143 sq kms and 350,000
people were evacuated.

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