Print

24

How would a large earthquake affect the reactor?

Reactors are designed to withstand very severe seismic loads.  These design loads are much higher than those used for other buildings and structures in Australia.  For example OPAL, which is designed to meet the requirements of ARPANSA and international standards, can withstand a 1 in 10,000-year earthquake.  Earthquakes of this magnitude have never been recorded in Australia.   Nevertheless, OPAL will withstand earthquakes of this size and has been shown to have considerable strength well beyond the predicted magnitude of this very unlikely event.  Even with such extreme events, OPAL would safely shut down.  Power reactors overseas are sometimes located in very seismically active regions, such as Japan and California.