Dr John Loy, CEO of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), has issued a licence for the construction of the replacement research reactor.
In doing so, Loy said that of fundamental importance in the design of the reactor was that ultimate safety didn't depend on either a complicated technological system, or people making the right decision.
"The first and second shutdown systems can be relied on to work simply by gravity--again this builds confidence in that it does not require human intervention or operation of complex technological systems," Loy said.
Lucas Height reactor has been there longer than most of the residents of the surrounding suburbs. The local Councils, and those responsible for zoning, allowed residential development to go on knowing full well the Reactor could possihbly pose some form of threat. Suddenly the locals do not want the Reactor in their backyard. Is that total stupidity or what? It did not suddenly creep up on them; they crept up on it.