There are clear health impacts for health workers who may be exposed to radiation from AUKUS nuclear submarines. These include exposure to radioactive waste, a radiation incident or accident, or possibly a terrorist attack.
Healthcare workers must be among the first responders in a radiation incident. They must be well-versed in radiation protection and aware of guidelines for conducting this work.
This article aims to summarise the potential health impacts of AUKUS on health workers, focusing principally on those that arise from response to a radiation incident or accident on a naval nuclear reactor.
The AUKUS agreement
The AUKUS deal was announced in September 2021 by the leaders of Australia, the UK and the US. According to the agreement, Australia will acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines powered by weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, using British designs and US technology.
Future AUKUS submarines are to be built in Port Adelaide, SA, where nuclear waste from nuclear submarines could also be stored. Nuclear waste will also be stored at HMAS Stirling at Garden Island in Western Australia.
The cost of the eight new submarines will average $33 million per day over 35 years, totalling $368 billion. These much-needed funds will reduce the funding available for top-priority issues like health, education, social justice, and repairing environmental and ecological degradation. Greater funding is also needed to build up diplomacy and foreign aid in order to ease regional tensions.
Even if the plan for Australian nuclear submarines does not proceed, as some are predicting, part of the AUKUS agreement also involves the “rotation” from 2027 of US and UK nuclear-powered submarines through HMAS Stirling, where Australian personnel will directly take part in the maintenance of the submarines and their nuclear reactors. Thus, the risk of exposure to radioactivity remains.
Radiation Effects
“Ionising radiation” (often abbreviated, as in this article, to “radiation”) is a form of transmitted energy, and it comes in many forms and from various sources. These include “background radiation” from natural sources such as soil and the sun, and artificial sources such as nuclear reactors, nuclear weapons explosions and medical sources such as X-rays. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) states that Australians are exposed to about 1.7 mSv of background radiation yearly.
Different forms of radioactivity can have very different capacities to penetrate and damage human and other tissues. The millisievert (mSv) is a unit of measurement of radiation’s capacity to penetrate tissue and, therefore, predispose to radiation-induced cancer and genetic damage.
Ionising Radiation Exposures to Emergency Workers
The level of consequence of a nuclear-submarine radiation accident could be ‘high’, even if the probability is ‘low’.
ARPANSA ‘s “Guide for Radiation Protection in Emergency Exposure Situations” – The Framework: (Annex A) “Guidance values for restricting exposure of emergency workers” provides guidance values as a basis for operational guidance for restricting the exposure of emergency workers, including healthcare personnel. (Page 63). Table A.1 (page 64) refers to allowing ionising radiation exposures to “designated” emergency response workers of up to 50 mSv (milli-Sievert) in a “nuclear or radiological emergency.” This exceeds the occupational exposure limit for uranium mine and other nuclear industry workers, which is a maximum of 20 mSv/year -and is up to 29 times the annual dose of about 1.7 mSv in civilian life.
Furthermore, it states that emergency workers may receive a dose of up to <500 mSv during an emergency response. It also states that a dose of <500 mSv may be exceeded in lifesaving actions “under circumstances in which the expected benefits to others clearly outweigh the emergency worker’s own health risks, and the emergency worker volunteers to take the action and understands and accepts these health risks”
Long-Term Risks of Radiation Exposure
There are long-term health risks of radiation exposure, which can occur through exposure to nuclear waste, radiation associated with nuclear reactors, including naval reactors or otherwise. Children and females are most vulnerable.
Several studies demonstrate evidence of a positive association between long-term low-dose radiation exposure and leukemia. Ionising radiation is an established cause of cancer.
The Summary of the authoritative: An Evaluation of Radiation Exposure Guidance for Military Operations: Interim Report reads:
“Radiation also can cause an increase in the incidence, but not the severity, of malignant disease (e.g., cancer). For this type of effect, it is the probability of occurrence that increases with dose rather than the severity. For radiation protection purposes it is assumed that any dose above zero can increase the risk of radiation-induced cancer (.e, that there is no threshold)“ (Page1)
In other words, there is no risk-free exposure to any amount of ionising radiation.
Public Consultation
The public should be informed of the possible consequences of having naval nuclear reactors in our ports, and should have been initially consulted in the decision-making. Instead, plans for AUKUS were released to the public without any public consultation or preparation.
Australia as a Military Target
The new era of even closer military cooperation between Australia and the US greatly increases the risks of Australia being a military target in the event of war between the US and China. This includes the risks of Australia being a nuclear weapons target. The consequences of a Nuclear War would be catastrophic to the globe and all life on it.
The world’s nuclear-armed states possess a combined total of about 12,100 nuclear warheads as of March 2024.
A single nuclear bomb detonated over a large city could kill millions of people. Survivors can be made sick & die from radiation poisoning, and future generations may suffer genetic damage. The use of tens or hundreds of nuclear bombs would disrupt the global climate, causing widespread famine.
Nuclear weapons must be eliminated. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons provides a means to achieve this, however, Australia is not a signatory to it, despite earlier political undertakings.
Summary and Conclusion
Emergency workers, including medical personnel and health workers, could be predisposed to an increased risk of long-term health effects, particularly cancers, following exposure to radiation from AUKUS nuclear powered submarines.
There is no risk–free exposure to any level of ionising radiation.
The public must also be informed about the consequences of having nuclear reactors in our ports, including the risk of exposure to radiation and warfare.
The best solution to the AUKUS deal is for it to be scrapped.
Author
Amanda J Ruler, RN, BA(Hons) MACN, Grad Dip Ger Nurs, PhD, Registered Nurse & National Vice President, Medical Association for Prevention of War
One Response
It is an insult and an outrage that the AUKUS agreement was presented to the Australian public as a fait accompli. Constantly talking up and preparing for war, as politicians on both sides are doing, only increases the likelihood of war. Thank you for setting down the cold hard facts of an unnecessary and dangerous nuclear future.