Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant

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Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant
location
Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant (Australia)
Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant
Coordinates 35 ° 7 '34 "  S , 150 ° 45' 13"  O Coordinates: 35 ° 7 '34 "  S , 150 ° 45' 13"  O
Country: Jervis Bay Territory , AustraliaAustraliaAustralia 
Data
Project start: 1969
Shutdown: 1971

Construction discontinued (gross):

1 (500 MW)
Was standing: January 2020
The data source of the respective entries can be found in the documentation .
f1

The Jervis Bay nuclear power plant ( English Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant ) was to be built from 1970 on Murray Beach in Jervis Bay Territory on the south coast of New South Wales in Australia , about 200 km from Sydney . Jervis Bay Territory was an exclave of the Australian Capital Territory in the state of New South Wales until 1989 . The first nuclear power plant in Australia with an electrical output of 500–600 megawatts was designed as a pilot project for the construction of further plants. Despite feasibility studies, the award of contracts and the start of concreting work, the Australian government did not pursue the project from 1971 onwards. There is still no nuclear power plant in Australia (as of 2020), although the discussion about it keeps flaring up.

Location

The proposed location for the nuclear power plant was near Murray Beach , a beach in Jervis Bay . According to Australian policy, the first nuclear power plant in Australia should be located in an area administered by the central government of Australia. The following were named as location factors:

  • the large volume of water in the bay for the treatment of cooling water
  • the proximity to the national power grid and to the cities of Melbourne and Sydney
  • the existing rail and port connection for the transport of the fuel rods.

Jervis Bay, which extends over a water surface of about 10 × 16 kilometers, is part of the Booderee National Park . In the bay there is an Australian naval port and Bowen Island , and a large area of ​​land is reserved for target practice by the warships of the Royal Australian Navy .

and display information about the image
Jervis Bay with ten warships. From the left Point Perpendicular, Bowen Island, Governor Head and right, HMAS Creswell (a Navy Ship Cadet School) and the naval port can be seen

history

The Australian government and the government of New South Wales decided in December 1969 to design and build the first nuclear power plant on Jervis Bay and to feed the electricity into the New South Wales grid. They were advised by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) in developing the concept . The blueprint provided for the construction of a reactor that could have produced nuclear weapons- grade plutonium and thus elevated Australia to the status of a nuclear power. In connection with this nuclear power plant construction, there were detailed cost and time plans for the production of atomic and hydrogen bombs .

In December 1969, interested parties were invited to take part in the tender, in February 1970 the tender documents were issued to the applicants and the deadline set in June 1970. In addition to The Nuclear Power Group from the United Kingdom, the two German companies Siemens and AEG also applied . The Nuclear Group proposed a steam generating heavy water reactor (SGHWR), the two German interested parties a light water reactor . A short time later, the two German interested parties founded the joint subsidiary Kraftwerk Union . Due to the required cooperation with other important companies in the European nuclear sector such as Belgonucleaire , Agip Nucleare , Interatom and British Nuclear Fuels , the two companies each concluded contracts with two partners. Kraftwerk Union and The Nuclear Group also decided to work together to build the nuclear power plant. The idea behind Kraftwerk Union was that the British nuclear market would be open and technologies could be transferred. Ultimately, the decision was made in favor of the steam-generating heavy water reactor, which was cheaper to build. The output was projected to be 500 megawatts. The facility should be completed by 1977.

Protests and end

When the plans to build the nuclear power plant became public, a local protest movement formed with the Jervis Bay Planning and Protection Committee , in which members of the Shoalhaven City Council were also active. The South Coast Trades and Labor Council , which organizes workers in the region, said it would not participate in the construction of the nuclear power plant.

There are several reasons for the Australian government to cancel the project. William McMahon came to power after the ousting of Prime Minister John Gorton , a project proponent . Both belonged to the conservative Liberal Party of Australia . The Cabinet was believed to abandon construction because it feared the use of nuclear power would undermine the state's role in supplying electricity. In addition, a new cost comparison calculation found that coal-fired power plants can generate cheaper electricity. Against the background that the Australian government expected losses of 100 million Australian dollars as a result of the construction of the nuclear power plant and was struggling with a high rate of inflation at the time, the project was discontinued. In addition, there was the discovery of natural gas and oil deposits in the Bass Strait off Australia, so that no energy crisis was to be feared. The planned location on Jervis Bay had already been developed. Planning costs had arisen, orders had already been placed and the first concreting work on the foundation had begun. The foundation can still be seen on the site that is now used as a parking lot.

Data of the reactor block

A reactor was planned:

Reactor block Reactor type power Beginning of project planning start of building Project setting
Jervis Bay SGHWR ≈500 MW 1969 1970 1971

literature

  • Alice Cawte: Atomic Australia. University of New South Wales Press. Sydney 1992

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lady Denman Heritage at www.ladydenman.asn.au ( memento from February 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on January 7, 2010
  2. ↑ a b https://www.tai.org.au/sites/default/files/Nuclear%20siting%2040_8.pdf
  3. ^ The Nuclear Industry: A history of misleading Sue Wareham: The Nuclear Industry: A history of misleading at www.energyscience. P. 11 . Retrieved January 7, 2011
  4. ↑ Chronology - Australia's Nuclear Political History at www.abc.net.au ( Memento from April 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 7, 2011
  5. ^ Brian Martin: Proliferation at home. Pp. 170-171. Search, Vol. 15, No. 5-6, June / July 1984, pp. 170-171 on www.bmartin.cc . Retrieved January 7, 2011
  6. ↑ Jaqus EC Hymans: Isotopes and Identity. Australia and the Nuclear Weapons, 1949-1998. P. 10 ff. On cns.miis.edu (PDF; 107 kB). Retrieved January 10, 2011
  7. ↑ Keth Alder: Australia's Uranium Opportunities. Pauline Alder. Sydney 1996, ISBN 0-646-29942-5
  8. ^ David Fishlock: Nuclear Marriage of Convenience . In: New Scientist, Volume 51, No. 760. July 15, 1971. ISSN  0262-4079 . P. 118
  9. ^ A b Jacques EC Hymans: The psychology of nuclear proliferation: identity, emotions, and foreign policy . Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-85076-2 . P. 129
  10. ↑ a b OECD Nuclear Energy Agency: Radioactive waste management programs in OECD / NEA member countries . In: Radioactive Waste Management Series. OECD Publishing, 2005, ISBN 92-64-01210-9 . P. 1
  11. ^ Alan Gilpin: Environment policy in Australia . In: Volume 8 of Australian environment. University of Queensland Press, 1980, ISBN 0-7022-1366-7 . P. 312
  12. ↑ Jim Falk: Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power, p. 260. Oxford Univ. Pr. Melbourne 1982, ISBN 0-19-554316-5
  13. ↑ a b Gorton gave nod to nuclear power plant, The Age of January 1, 2000 ( Memento of December 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). Retrieved January 7, 2011