Australian study warns of RI nuclear disaster

Australian study warns of RI nuclear disaster

CANBERRA (Reuter): Radioactive fallout from a nuclear accident in Indonesia would be disastrous for millions of people in Asia and Australia and could leave cities such as Singapore unlivable, an Australian study warned on Tuesday.

The study of the fallout risks involved in Jakarta's proposed nuclear program, due to come on line early next century, found radioactive gases from an nuclear accident could wreck regional food crops that feed tens of millions of people.

"It's potentially a very serious risk," said the study's author John Taylor from the Australian National University's Center for Resource and Environmental Studies.

"If they have a major failure, it's going to be a disaster on a huge scale," Taylor told Reuters.

Taylor's study was based on weather patterns over recent years and did not assess the likelihood of an accident or the danger posed by the instability of earthquake-prone Java island.

Indonesia's atomic energy agency, BATAN, hopes to build the first of several nuclear power plants in 1988 or 1999, pending the results of a study of the Mount Muria site on Java, 440 kilometers (275 miles) east of Jakarta.

"Potentially all the countries in the region are at risk of a fallout," Taylor said.

Southeast Asia, especially Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, was most at risk from March to November when prevailing winds were from the south, he said, adding an accident as bad as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster could make Singapore unlivable.

Taylor said northern Australia would be at substantial risk of radioactive fallout from December to February when trade winds blew south.

"It is likely that radioactive gas would reach northern Australia in only a few days if a release from Java were to occur during (the southern hemisphere) summer," he said.

Taylor urged regional governments to closely monitor the program, including safety standards, and establish early-warning systems.

"It's clearly a regional issue. Everybody in the region has a vested interest," he said. "We need to be putting in place plans in anticipation of an accident. The Indonesians are going to have to be very open and honest."

Jakarta has said no final decision has been made on whether it will go ahead with its nuclear project.