Nuclear power plan puts thousands of farms in “radiation alert zone”

Nuclear energy threatens Australia’s food production with more than 11,000 farms near the opposition’s proposed reactor sites, the government says.

The farms are located within an 80km radius of the seven earmarked sites, according to a data analysis released by the federal government on Thursday morning.

Under international standards that radius is classified as an “ingestion exposure pathway” in which people may be exposed to radiation through contaminated food, milk and water after a nuclear leak.

US farmers in those zones must take on preventative measures in an emergency, such as providing livestock with separate feed and water, holding shipments and decontaminating produce.

“Based on international practice, farmers would need to take expensive steps during a nuclear leak and would need to inform their customers that they operate within the fallout zone,” Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said in a statement.

“It’s bizarre that the Nationals and Liberals are putting at risk our prime agricultural land like this, especially without the decency to explain it to farmers and consumers how they’d mitigate all the potential impacts.”

Senator Watt also told the Australian Global Food Forum on Wednesday that nuclear power needs more water than coal-fired energy and renewables.

“One issue not yet considered in the nuclear debate is the fact that nuclear energy production is a thirsty endeavour,” he told the industry crowd in Brisbane.

But Nationals leader David Littleproud said the comments were “scaremongering” and “hypocrisy”.

The coalition’s policy is to use the existing entitlements from coal power plants at each site so water would not be taken from agriculture or communities, Mr Littleproud said.

“For him to talk about water security after this Labor government changed the Murray Darling Basin Plan to include water buybacks, as well as scrapping several new dam projects is hypocrisy of the highest order.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced the nuclear strategy a month ago, flagging nuclear reactors at coal power stations that have closed or are winding down.

Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria’s Gippsland region, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia, Collie in Western Australia, and Mount Piper and Liddell in NSW have all been earmarked.

There would be more than 1000 affected farms close to each of the sites at Callide, Collie, Liddell and Mount Piper, 2400 near Tarong and 260 near Port Augusta, according to the government’s analysis.

Victoria’s La Trobe region would be the hardest hit with more than 4100 farms within the 80km radius.

Nuclear power will be on the agenda as the nation’s agriculture ministers meet in Queensland on Thursday. 

The ministers last met in March to confirm national priorities in biosecurity, drought, workforce, climate change, First Nations agriculture, trade and animal welfare.

Source: AAP