No medical need for nuclear industry, nuke waste dump, in Australia
“The government has continually misled the public by stating that a nuclear industry is necessary to provide treatment to people with cancer”…..alternatives such as cyclotrons were not nuclear-based….”But for some reason the government has a nuclear agenda.”
No need for nuclear medicine: doctor, Sydney Morning Herald, Larine Statham, May 12, 2011, The federal government has misled the public about Australia’s need for nuclear medicine, a Northern Territory emergency physician says.
Hilary Tyler, a member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW), said even if a nuclear reactor was needed to make medical radioisotopes, there was no need for further uranium mining.
“The amount of uranium you need a year to treat everyone in Australia with cancer – you can hold that amount of uranium in your hand. It’s a very tiny amount,” she told AAP.
“It’s really interesting because it’s not what the government is telling us.
“The government has continually misled the public by stating that a nuclear industry is necessary to provide treatment to people with cancer.
“As medical professionals we strongly reject this.”…..at the very least we can import our radioisotopes from other countries.
“There is a lot of research going into developing other sources for radioisotopes,” she said, adding that alternatives such as cyclotrons were not nuclear-based.
“It may well be in the future that we don’t need a nuclear reactor anywhere in the world.
“But for some reason the government has a nuclear agenda.”
Dr Tyler, who works at Alice Springs Hospital, said MAPW was opposed to the establishment of a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, near Tennant Creek, in central Australia.
The legislation that seeks to set up Australia’s first nuclear waste dump had been listed for debate in the Senate on Tuesday when the country’s focus was on the federal budget.
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