Antinuclear

Once again, South Australia faces the nuclear trash dump threat

Nuclear waste dump battle begins – again Canberra Times, November 15, 2015  Anica Niepraschk and Jim Green
Communities at the six sites shortlisted by the government as potential repositories for nuclear waste need to be fully informed.
“……….Two of the SA sites are near Kimba, 150 kilometres west of Port Augusta. It is agricultural land and there is overwhelming opposition from local farmers. The South Australian debate also feeds into a debate as to whether the state might offer itself up as the world’s nuclear waste dump, accepting high-level nuclear waste from power reactors around the world. Despite extravagant claims about the potential revenue stream from high-level nuclear waste, less than one in six South Australians support the proposal.

A strong coalition of Aboriginal communities and civil society organisations in South Australia has already clearly announced its opposition to hosting a nuclear waste repository and is prepared to follow in the footsteps of the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, senior Aboriginal women who successfully prevented a repository being foisted on their land from 1998-2004.

Former industry minister Ian Macfarlane repeatedly said that the government would release a list of all nominations received. It appears, however, that this will not happen. If the government wants to live up to its promises of transparency and accountability, the complete list should be released. Issues that might be of interest would be the arbitrary exclusion (or inclusion) of sites for political reasons. The Howard government excluded the whole of NSW for political reasons.

Although the government says it does not want to impose a repository on an unwilling community, there is no guarantee that this government (or a future one) will not revert to earlier habits of trying to do so. The process (and the relevant legislation – the National Radioactive Waste Management Act) is lacking clear participatory, deliberative mechanisms, and the government retains the legal powers to impose a repository on an unwilling community……..

Lastly, the government should go back to the drawing board and ask whether a remote repository is needed at all. About 95 per cent of the waste is securely stored at two locations: the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s Lucas Heights site in southern Sydney, and Defence Department land near Woomera in SA. There is no obvious reason why that waste should be moved. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/nuclear-waste-dump-battle-begins–again-20151113-gkypn7.html#ixzz3raeyvNVf

November 16, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News