Australian researchers say reactor doesn't pose safety risk
Updated
Australia's nuclear research body says a water leak at Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor does not pose any safety risks.
Andrew Humpherson, from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, says the water seepage was detected in December of 2006, but attempts to fix it have so far proved only partially successful.
Mr Humpherson says ANSTO is working with the Argentinian designers of the reactor to come up with possible solutions, including treating the leaking water if the leak itself cannot be fixed.
But he says the seepage is not dangerous.
"It's a question of normal water which is in the reactor pool leaking into a heavy water vessel which is contained within that same pool and the effect is to dilute the heavy water. It's an efficiency matter for the reactor not a safety issue."
But Greens Senator Scott Ludlum says the reactor should be shut down until the problem is fixed.
"I don't think they should spin it out of existence as being you know something minor or marginal," Senator Ludlum says.
"It's been important enough that it's been in the media, it's being reported, and it's a reactor that was shutdown for nearly a year. So obviously they've got ongoing technical concerns there. We don't want those becoming safety concerns. And that's why the reactor should just be off-lined for the time being."
