Antinuclear

Another Northern Territory train derailment highlights danger of radioactive materials transport

Of greater concern was the transport of nuclear waste from Lucas Heights in NSW to the proposed nuclear dump at
Muckaty Station…. “we have extreme weather conditions,” 

Crash sparks calls for Adelaide to Darwin rail line probe, BY:REBECCA PUDDY AND DAN BOX  The Australian June 11, 2012 THE third derailment on the Adelaide to Darwin railway in just 19 months has reignited demands for an inquiry into the integrity of the track amid plans to increase the amount of uranium the line carries through central Australia.

The Greens and environmental groups yesterday called for a government
inquiry into the line after a freight train carrying 6000 tonnes of Om
Minerals’ manganese from the Bootu Creek mine derailed near Tennant
Creek on Thursday.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam, the party’s nuclear spokesman, said there
should be an inquiry “well before we start getting into shipments of
radioactive copper concentrate along that line”.

“The fact is they keep having these derailments,” he said.

“My real concern is that emergency services personnel and clean-up
crews just won’t be able to deal with any radioactive spill.”

Environment Centre NT spokeswoman Cat Beaton called for a wider
inquiry into rail transport in the Northern Territory. She warned that
it was only a matter of time before there was an environmental
disaster involving uranium transported from the Ranger mine in Kakadu,
BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam in South Australia or Western Australia’s
future uranium mines. Of greater concern was the transport of nuclear
waste from Lucas Heights in NSW to the proposed nuclear dump at
Muckaty Station, she said. “Every seasonal change we can expect the
track to buckle but we just don’t know where or when . . . because we
have extreme weather conditions,” Ms Beaton said. “The last derailment
. . . was put down to the wet season, and this derailment has now
happened in the dry.”

She said the derailments showed the transport of minerals on the
Adelaide-Darwin rail line was unsafe. “Given the amount of accidents
that have occurred lately, we can’t rely on the transport of goods
from south to north because accidents happen,” she said.

“There’s signs up in all of the supermarkets saying we’re not going to
get fresh food because of the train wreck, and if an incident occurred
involving nuclear waste, we’d be cut off for a lot more………
In December, extreme weather weakened a bridge and caused a
20-carriage diesel freight train to derail and send its 1200-tonne
cargo of toxic copper concentrate into the Edith River. At the time,
the Greens said that the spill raised questions about the planned
expansion of Olympic Dam uranium mine, with party leader Christine
Milne saying Environment Minister Tony Burke needed “to urgently
reconsider his approval”……
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/crash-sparks-calls-for-adelaide-to-darwin-rail-line-probe/story-fn59niix-1226390639315

June 11, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Northern Territory, safety