Antinuclear

Strong objections to nuclear waste dump sites

Why is it that THE AUSTRALIAN and most media go on about medical wastes, but don’t mention the REAL problem – Lucas Heights nuclear reactor wastes returning from France?

Nuclear waste dump goes against the grain, THE AUSTRALIAN, REBECCA PUDDY ANDREW BURRELL, 14 Nov 15,  Grain farmer Cameron Scott is no green activist, but he promises to fight any move to build the nation’s first nuclear waste dump on his doorstep in South Australia’s wheatbelt.

Mr Scott is a key member of a coalition of neighbours in the town of Kimba, almost 500km northwest of Adelaide, who are strongly opposed to the region hosting a facility to store the nation’s low-level and mediumlevel radioactive waste.

“The first thing that hit me was safety — we’ve got kids, we’ve been here for three generations and we want to look after their future,” Mr Scott said yesterday, as he acknowledged deep tensions in his local community over the issue.

“What will this do for our price of land, who wants to buy land next to a radioactive waste dump and what will happen to the price of our grain?”

Kimba is ground zero in the deeply personal battle over the location of the dump, with two of the six shortlisted sites across Australia — all of which were voluntarily nominated by landholders — located in the district………

Mr Frydenberg said Australia had an international obligation to store its own radioactive waste, which mainly consisted of laboratory items and material used in medical treatments.

The waste is now being stored at more than 100 sites, including hospitals and universities, and the search for a permanent storage facility has so far taken 30 years.

In the NSW town of Hill End, well-known artist Luke Sciberras said he was appalled by the prospect of the waste dump being built at Sallys Flat just 10km away. Hill End is a former gold mining centre that has become an artists’ retreat and tourist town drawing thousands of visitors a year.

Mr Sciberras said he had been overwhelmed yesterday by messages of support from fellow residents who are opposed to the facility in such a beautiful area. “These people are not hicks — they come here for a reason, they choose to live here,” he said.

Australian Conservation Foundation national nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney said the organisation would offer its support to any local communities concerned about the prospect of living near the facility.

He welcomed Mr Frydenberg’s commitment to consult with the affected communities, saying it was an improvement on failed attempts by successive governments to impose a facility at sites in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Mr Sweeney said there was no compelling reason to build another radioactive waste facility. Most of the waste planned for any national facility was now stored in two secure federal facilities and waste returning from Europe could be stored at the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney.

In Kimba, farmer Jeff Baldock, one of the shortlisted applicants, volunteered to sell one square kilometre of his property for the facility in exchange for a premium price and a reported $10 million community fund.

Little did he expect the division and unrest his decision has since brought upon the community……

He attributed his decision to offer his land for the nuclear waste dump to his neighbour, Liberal MP Rowan Ramsay, who withdrew his own bid because of a concern over a conflict of interest…..

For neighbour Peter Woolford, whose fortunes rest firmly on the fertility of his land, the prospect of a nuclear waste dump on the other side of his fence is deeply concerning. “Agriculture has been the mainstay of our community for over 100 years,” Mr Woolford said. “Money doesn’t make a community, people do.”

Nuclear waste dump goes against the grain

November 14, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Opposition to nuclear, South Australia, wastes