Disaster at proposed Mount Piper nuclear site could impact North Shore residents

A new study suggests the suburbs of Sydney's north could be in the contamination zone of nuclear energy plant failure.

Author

Melissa Mantle
March 11, 2025

A meltdown at the proposed nuclear reactor site in Mount Piper could have severe economic and health consequences for residents of the North Shore, new research suggests.

The research – from climate action group Don’t Nuke the Climate – is based on a study of what occurred in Fukushima prefecture in Japan in 2011.

This year marks the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami destabilised a nuclear reactor in the coastal city and caused the release of radioactive contaminants into the surrounding environment.

Interactive maps have been released today, designed by the researchers at Don’t Nuke the Climate and based on the Fukushima radiation plume maps originally peer reviewed and published by the European Geosciences Union. They show how far a pollution plume from an accident could potentially spread across our community and can be adjusted for wind direction.

The darker the shading, the higher the level of radioactive contamination and the higher the radiation exposures for people in those areas.

The north wind direction map shows the plume could drift as far as Hornsby and Mosman, leading into the Northern Beaches suburbs of Manly and Mona Vale.

The interactive map shows winds could carry radioactive contamination all the way to the northern beaches and beyond.

The Coalition’s nuclear plan

Last year, Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced the Coalition’s election promise to build seven nuclear plants across Australia. All would be built on the sites of former or current coal plants, and have been drafted for potential locations in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia.

The Mount Piper Power Station, in New South Wales, would be the nuclear plant closest to Sydney’s North Shore residents.

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Nuclear disasters are rare, but the impacts are “shocking”

On Tuesday, National Account reporter Archie Milligan spoke with Dr Jim Green, National Nuclear Campaigner with Friends of the Earth, in a conversation anticipating the release of his research.

Green explained that 200,000 people live within the 30 kilometre evacuation zone around the seven proposed nuclear sites, including 33 hospitals and 99 schools.

“The issue is that with risk assessment, we need to take into account probability on the one hand, but also impacts on the other. So with nuclear disasters, they're rare, but the impacts are shocking, and that includes a vast amount of death and disease,” Dr Green argued.

“The Fukushima experience raises uncomfortable questions for Peter Dutton about emergency preparedness, pre-distribution of iodine tablets to reduce the number of thyroid cancers, evacuation zones, the insurance industry’s refusal to insure against nuclear accidents, and much more.”

This is not to mention the economic fallout.

Economic fallout

“The economic costs of the Fukushima disaster were around $1 trillion and 190,000 people were evacuated,” Green said.

According to Dr. Green, the economic costs are staggering even if these nuclear reactors run perfectly. On top of the cost of building them, which Green said is in the hundreds of billions of dollars already, there are the extra costs of engineering for seismic risk and then managing nuclear waste.

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Inadequate frameworks

Green is concerned about the lack of serious research cited by proponents of nuclear energy and inadequate regulatory frameworks.

“I'm certain that they have done no research. What we've heard from the proponents is the asinine and meaningless statement that modern nuclear reactors are incredibly safe. That's from the Coalition's website.”

“You need a vast amount of water when a disaster happens to keep the reactors cool and to prevent further accidents. And how on earth are they going to do that at these inland sites that have been proposed by the coalition? It really just doesn't square.”

The North Shore Lorikeet has reached out to local MPs, councillors, election candidates and politicians for comment.

Thumbnail image credit: Energy Australia (left), Don’t Nuke the Climate (right)