Wildly exaggerated economic claims by Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Taskforce
Kazzi Jai .Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste In The Flinders Ranges, 15 Oct 19,“Down in the Dumps” Report – August 2018
The Full Report is available in the Link below:
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/conservationsa/pages/9910/attachments/original/1534679998/Down_In_the_Dumps.pdf
Government study found Kimba and Flinders Range areas to be unsuitable for nuclear waste dump
Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/ 11 Oct 19
A 2005 feasibility study by URS Australia for the SA government found both Flinders Ranges and Kimba unsuitable for Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dump. Anyone told Canavan and Marshall?
Kimba ballot on nuclear waste dump- a good idea, but very badly done
Flinders Local Action Group, Dave Sweeney,Australian Conservation Foundation–12 Oct 19
WASTE The federal government ballot to measure community sentiment over plans for a radioactive waste facility near Kimba is a good idea that has been very badly done.
Clearly, affected local communities should have a say in decisions with direct impacts, and hosting radioactive waste that lasts 10,000 years would certainly impact.
But to make an informed decision a community needs access to detailed and accurate information. This is missing at Kimba. There is little or no detail on waste acceptance criteria, transport and handling procedures, or future plans for the most contaminating waste.
The community is effectively being asked to give a blanket approval to a concept, not measured consideration of a specific proposal.
The federal government wants to set up a purpose built facility: national in
scope, long term in duration and intended to host Australia’s most problematic
radioactive waste.
This problem was not created by the people of Kimba, nor is it their sole responsibility to solve.
The federal approach has been to shrink the space for a discussion around this waste and to seek to turn a needed national debate into a local infrastructure opportunity and bidding war.
This approach has been divisive, failed to consider other options and has not
provided people in the wider Eyre Peninsula or South Australia with a voice.
Securely managing radioactive waste is a complex and costly challenge and giving Canberra a blank cheque for a bad plan is not a good idea.
More bribery to Kimba and Hawker communities as nuclear waste dump ballot nears
Robyn Wood, 9 Oct 19, More bribes for both Kimba and Flinders communities to sway the vote. This government is so blatant. To say the community needs mental health support for those distressed by the dump is a massive insult. My excerpts with underlining of the unbelievable bits:
Federal government announces $4 million funding program for communities in radioactive waste debate, Transcontinental
A new benefit program has been announced for communities at the crux of the radioactive waste facility debate.
The federal government has revealed a $4 million funding program for each of the two communities considering the facility, around Kimba and Wallerberdina Station.
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan said the new funding is a response to community feedback and reflected the delays in the site selection process.
Consultation on the proposed facility commenced in 2016.
“We recognise that the communities have engaged in debate in good faith and we remain committed to supporting them through the site selection process. This investment will support the communities as well as deliver projects and initiatives that can further diversify the local economies,” he said.
“The Flinders Ranges and Kimba are great country places that I have had the pleasure to get to know better through this process.
“We have been listening to the community and we are responding, particularly with respect to investing in services that support the wellbeing of people in these local communities.”
A range of projects and initiatives can meet the criteria for funding through the program, including local infrastructure upgrades, services, apprenticeships and mental health initiatives.
The funding is not dependant on the results of the upcoming ballots which will take place in the District Council of Kimba and the Flinders Ranges Council.
An additional $31 million will also be available through a Community Development Package for the community chosen to host the proposed facility.
Radioactive waste is currently spread over more than 100 locations around Australia and the federal government wants to see it consolidated into a single purpose built facility in line with international best practice.
But Australian Conservation Foundation’s Dave Sweeney said there is no urgency to move the material and more conversations are needed.
“There is no radioactive waste management crisis in Australia,” he said.
“95 per cent of the material that will head to any site in South Australia is currently in secure storage under federal control today, and it will be tomorrow, and it will be for a year and can be for 35 more years.
“The federal regulator, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, has said repeatedly that there’s no urgency to move the most severe and the most problematic material which is the intermediate level waste which is currently based at Lucas heights in Sydney.”
Voting commences in the District Council of Kimba this week, while the Flinders Ranges Council have confirmed that it will hold a community ballot between November 11 and December 12.
Federal nuclear waste dump plan- it’s really High Level wastes!
Thing about this waste dump is, it is not “low” level At all but a Intermediate nuclear waste dump
Intermediate-level waste (ILW) contains higher amounts of radioactivity compared to low-level waste. It generally requires shielding, but not cooling. Intermediate-level wastes includes resins, chemical sludge and metal nuclear fuel cladding, as well as contaminated materials from reactor decommissioning
By standards in Europe, this is classified high , they say it’s only gloves and other stuff, but don’t go into detail about the the intermediate material, what are they really trying to do? Is this the High Level Nuclear Dump by the back door?
Come on South Australia wake up and smell what Canberra is cooking, they want us to be the dump state https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/
Ballot dates confirmed for Flinders Ranges on nuclear waste dump issue
Flinders Ranges Council confirms ballot dates for waste facility, Transcontinental, Amy Green, 1 Oct 19
Communities in the far north are one step closer to finding out if they will have a radioactive waste management facility in their backyard with ballot dates confirmed by both councils in contention.
Voting commences in the District Council of Kimba next week, while the Flinders Ranges Council have confirmed that it will hold a community ballot between November 11 and December 12.
- Notes banned during committee meetings
- Closed meeting sparks secrecy concerns
- Barngarla group loses out in legal battle
“In addition to the ballots, anyone can have their say through the submissions process.”
But the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Dave Sweeney said the ballots are divisive and are raising tensions in otherwise cohesive communities.
“The ballot is important and essential obviously for communities in the affected areas to have a say and voice their opinion,” he said.
“But this is not a decision just for Kimba or just for Hawker, it’s a national radioactive waste management facility and the government has turned it into a bidding war or a how much are you prepared to fight struggle between two regional communities.
“The ballot and the government’s entire approach has been divisive, unnecessarily divisive. They are consistently asking people to make decisions and take positions on the basis of completely insufficient evidence.
“You wouldn’t buy a secondhand car on the basis of what we know about this project, yet they are asking communities to sign off yes or no about radioactive waste that will need to be managed for 10,000 years.”https://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/6412542/flinders-ranges-council-confirms-ballot-dates-for-waste-facility/
A Kimba resident says there’s no going back: a plea to vote NO to nuclear dump
Kimba residents to vote on waste facility, RACHEL YATES, 30 Sept 19, https://www.eyretribune.com.au/story/6412750/kimba-residents-to-vote-on-waste-facility/While I would really like to see an extra 45 jobs in our community, this ‘process’ has made me very sceptical and I have very little trust in the government to keep their word, especially when we don’t even know who will actually be running the ‘facility’.
There are still so many unknowns in regards to the dump and yet we are being asked to vote on something that will be here forever.
We won’t be able to change our minds once it is here.
No matter what has been promised or how safe they say it is, this facility will be forced onto people in this community.
I am a neighbour and my family and I still do not want to live anywhere near it.
Nuclear waste should not be dumped on agricultural land.
I can live with being blamed for losing this ‘opportunity’ if we are not chosen but, if we are, and I have to live near this, I will never ‘get over’ feeling like the government and my community has forced this on me and my family.
So far, the government has broken numerous promises and continually change the rules to suit themselves.
Can you truly trust them?
The upcoming vote is our final chance to have a say.
This is it!
There is no going back.
Please, please make sure you are absolutely certain before casting your vote.
If you have even the slightest doubt, please vote no.
Nuclear waste dump for Kimba? Residents to vote soon
This is supported by the reality that the Palmer/federal Liberal agreement on preferences at the last federal election saw a overwhelming victory for the Liberals.
Importantly, the Palmer policy was strong advocacy for nuclear power in Australia, which saw the strong Liberal victory, so to me the wheels are rolling and the only impediment ironically is the large and increasing investment in South Australia in renewable energy.
As far as Kimba accepting the international nuclear waste the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming, once the decision to accept the higher level waste was made and confirmed prior to the last federal election.
After 60 years of nuclear reactors at Lucas Heights, Kimba is political heaven for our national Parliament.
A yes vote at Kimba means a $300 million investment by the federal government almost immediately, or they could have their ‘facility’ at Leonora in Western Australia for no cost to taxpayers and in a much more isolated area without the risks and without breaching their own guidelines.
So next week Kimba may well be going in to the history books for different reasons to their up-to annual $80 million export agriculture.
Good luck with whatever their decision.. I don’t have a vote even though I am a partner in a farming business of almost 100 years, near a preferred site.
Nuclear waste dump ballot to go ahead in Kimba, South Australia
Robyn Wood Note the end with a quote from the Kimba pro nuker who will profit by selling his land. No quote from nuclear opponents. Have a read of the comments, most of them are opposed to the nuclear waste dump plan. The Barngarla people’s request for an injunction to stop the Kimba vote has been denied. The Kimba ballot is happening now. The Flinders Ranges council has agreed to do a risk assessment, but Canavan is not going to wait for the results before doing the Flinders ballot in November.
It plans to post out ballot papers on Thursday, asking locals if they back locating the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility at one of two nominated sites in the region.
The vote comes after the Federal Court on Friday rejected another bid by the Barngarla people to stop it going ahead, pending more court action next year.
The Barngarla, who possess rights over much of the region around Kimba, have argued the poll is unlawful because it excludes native title holders.
Two sites near Kimba have been short-listed as potential locations for a low-level radioactive waste storage facility, while a third is near the Flinders Ranges town of Hawker.
The federal government is yet to reveal its preferred location but said recently it was mindful of the need to reach a decision.
On Friday the government said as well as the Kimba ballot and one to be conducted in the Hawker region in November, business owners and residents within a five-kilometre radius of the three nominated sites would also be surveyed.
The Barngarla had claimed their exclusion from the Kimba ballot was based on their Aboriginality and would impair their human rights or fundamental freedoms as native title owners.
Rejecting that argument in July, Justice Richard White ruled the council’s actions did not contravene racial discrimination laws.
On Friday, Justice Craig Colvin rejected the Barngarla’s argument that its chances of winning on appeal were strong and said the basis for an immediate injunction had not been made out.
National Radioactive Waste Management Taskforce general manager Sam Chard said the decision confirmed the community ballots could proceed.
“What this means is that after more than two years of consultation, communities will have multiple ways in which they can have their say on the proposal,” Ms Chard said.
‘”Whether individuals are for or against the facility, we’re confident the communities at the centre of the process are well informed.”
The Kimba council said it intended pushing ahead with the ballot as there was “no legal impediment” to it going ahead.
“Council’s position has always been to facilitate the ballot on behalf of the minister for resources and northern Australia so our community could have its voice heard,” Mayor Dean Johnson said.
The council plans to post out the voting papers on October 3, with the ballot to close on November 7.
Support for the nuclear waste facility is thought to be mixed across the local community.
Jeff Baldock, who has nominated his Kimba farm as a possible site, is backing the project as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure Kimba’s future”.
Potential impact of radioactive wastes on water activities in the Spencer Gulf
Groups in the state’s far north are urging the federal government to consider a report on the impact of a potential nuclear waste facility on the Hookina Floodplain.
Australia’s radioactive waste is currently stored at a purpose-built ‘Interim Waste Store’ at Lucas Heights in new South Wales and has been since 2015.
Flinders Local Action Group member Greg Bannon said a facility on Wallerberdina Station in Hawker could cause major implications for water activities in the Spencer Gulf. Continue reading
Kimba or the Flinders Ranges – nuclear sacrifice zone?
Yet the Federal Government plan to store this nuclear waste indefinitely, above ground, on earthquake prone land, on floodplains in a canister that has a design life of 40 years, with no plans for a permanent facility and hope that future generations will come up with new ideas for a permanent disposal and the financial resources to implement them. This is an unethical neglect of responsibility and dangerous for the people of South Australia.
The Federal Government admits that Australia does not have enough nuclear waste to justify a safe, permanent facility for Intermediate Level Nuclear Waste and they have NO PLANS to build one.
This can only mean one of two outcomes. Leave it indefinitely in Kimba or The Flinders Ranges and expect our children to deal with it. Or, they will offer South Australia to become the International Sacrifice Zone to dispose of the world’s nuclear waste, enabling us to financially deal with our own.
Quote from the office of Kim Carr. “We have to get the nuclear waste out of Lucas Heights, because it’s too dangerous to have it in densely populated metropolitan Sydney.” Well if it’s too dangerous for Sydney, it’s too dangerous for South Australia. Both Steven Marshall and Peter Malinauskashave been asleep at the wheel on this and we need to wake up South Australia now before it’s too late. There is a nuclear waste site ballot taking place in Kimba next month which will likely decide the fate of our state. Only people within those precincts are allowed to vote, 99% of South Australian’s cannot vote on this. Call Steven Marshalll and Peter Malinauskas or your local MP and demand they stop the ballot process and engage with the people of South Australia. We cannot be a Sacrifice Zone
Minister Canavan and Department of Industry Innovation and science ready to spoil beautiful, sacred, and arable land – for nuclear trash
Goodes abuse mirrors SA nuclear fight, Eureka Street, Michele Madigan, 03 September 2019 On 21 August I came out of an Adelaide preview of The Australian Dream, Stan Grant’s documentary about the racialised mistreatment of the former AFL footballer Adam Goodes, for a brief interview on our local ABC’s Evening Show. The topic: the resumption of federal government visibility and determination to both deposit and dump nuclear waste in either the Flinders Ranges or Kimba regions.
There is at best exasperation, and at worst, genuine anger shown to many Australians seeking to defend country: to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defenders certainly. In regard to non-Aboriginal people, the word ‘greenie’ has become largely a term of derision………
On 13 August, DIIS, in meeting with the Barndioota Consultative Committee in the Flinders, confirmed that the size of the proposed site would now be 60 per cent larger. On 21 and 22 August Minister Canavan visited both areas for brief ‘consultative’ meetings, declaring the site decision is likely before the end of this year, and acknowledging that this may take place before the Flinders ballot. While again refusing to give a named acceptable percentage on such a ballot, Senator Canavan stressed the ballot was just one component in the decision making. Other evidence will include the 1000 submissions in this still open process.
On his 26 August Evening Show, Peter Goers interviewed an enthusiastic proponent — the Member for the vast federal seat of Grey. Rowan Ramsey was indignant that ‘outsiders’ were daring to protest the project. As well as ignoring his companion interviewee, local Greg Bannon, Ramsay revealed his misconception that other South Australians and indeed other Australians have no right to object. In claiming no knowledge of nuclear transport accidents, clearly he had not heard of the 1994 spill near Port Augusta, to name just one example; nor that transporting and simply ‘storing’ the spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor is exponentially more dangerous than Olympic Dam yellowcake transport…… https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/goodes-abuse-mirrors-sa-nuclear-fight?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Eureka%20Street%20Daily%20-%20Wednesday%204%20September%202019&utm_content=Eureka%20Street%20Daily%20-%20Wednesday%204%20September%202019+CID_df4eff5733a50d6914ba873c7e09aea7&utm_source=Jescom%20Newsletters&utm_term=Goodes%20abuse%20mirrors%20SA%20nuclear%20fightIs Australian govt’s plan for “temporary” nuclear waste dump really part of drive to IMPORT NUCLEAR WASTES?
The Australian government is not being up front with the public. The plan to set up a supposedly “temporary” nuclear waste dump in South Australia must be involved with some idea of what to do with these wastes permanently.
Is this plan in fact the precursor to a secret plan to set up a dump for the importation of nuclear wastes?
FlindersRanges Council delays nuclear waste dump ballot
Kimba council set a date while Hawker faces further delays, Transcontinental Amy Green 23 Aug19,
Following a week of meetings and debates surrounding the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, both the Kimba and Flinders Ranges council have reached separate decisions moving forward.
The Kimba community will have its say on the proposal through a long-awaited ballot, which has been delayed for more than 12-months by litigation from native title holders.
While the decision to move forward with the ballot has been appealed by native title holders, District Council of Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson said their was no legal impediment to the ballot proceeding.
“Council’s position has always been to facilitate the ballot on behalf of the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia so our community could have its voice heard, and we reaffirmed that position at our ordinary meeting last week,” he explained.
“We were advised … that the Minister no longer requests that the Kimba and Hawker ballots to be run concurrently, so Council has commenced planning with a view to ballot papers being posted out on 3 October.”…….
Two independent reports have already been commissioned by the federal government, both the Cadence Economic Report and Professor Peta Ashworth’s University of Queensland Socio-Economic Study.
The Flinders Ranges Council is seeking government funding to commission further research.
Mr Slattery said the subsequent report will not be used as a decision making tool for the council…….
It is unclear if running the ballots non-concurrently will have any impact on the decision of where to place the national facility. https://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/6345929/waste-dump-ballot-to-run-non-concurrently-for-hawker-and-kimba/?fbclid=IwAR0o4bAGp7-RiD24rEhX5voZeaEx6QzfPwEHJ2iON20rOc0z5uSaeIVYumA
Resources Minister Matt Canavan in Kimba : pressing for a ‘Yes” vote in nuclear waste dump ballot?
The man on the right liberal politician member for Grey tendered his own property for a nuclear waste dump in his own town with out consulting any one not even his neighbor.
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Ballot date set as Resources Minister visits Kimba, Eyre Tribune, Rachel McDonald -22 Aug 19, A date has been set for the Kimba community ballot on the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF) project, opening the door for one of the two proposed Kimba sites to be selected before consultation is complete on a third site near Hawker.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan was in town this week as the Kimba District Council announced the timing of the ballot. Ballots will be posted to voters in the Kimba district from October 3, with voting set to close on November 7.
Over 80 community members gathered to speak to Mr Canavan at the Kimba Gateway Hotel on Thursday, with the process for determining whether the project had broad community support and the financial support budgeted for the district both major topics of conversation. Several locals were concerned that no money is currently budgeted to provide support for the community should the project not go ahead.
Mr Canavan said he was committed to providing support for the non host community to transition out of the site selection process. “I want to do something on that, we just haven’t formally made a decision,” he said. The process for determining whether the project had broad community support faced criticism from some community members, with several making the point that nearby communities that would not have the chance to vote in the ballot would be impacted by the eventual decision, including some residents in the Wudinna district that live closer to the proposed sites than some in the Kimba district. Mr Canavan said he would be looking at the possibility of directing some of the financial support available to assist the Kimba community through the site selection process to surrounding communities. He encouraged anyone affected to make a submission, and said the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science had already received over 1000 submissions to consider in conjunction with the ballot which he would be looking at with their location in mind. He reiterated that in regards to the community ballot result, he would not be giving a specific percentage figure ahead of time as to what the department would consider broad community support, instead weighing up the result alongside the submissions….. Mr Canavan indicated the government would be looking for a result “a lot more” than a simple majority in favour. The Kimba District Council’s decision to proceed with the ballot was not mirrored by the Flinders Ranges Council, which has requested an independent analysis be conducted before their ballot. Mr Canavan said the Kimba ballot would not be delayed to run concurrently with the Flinders Ranges ballot. He said it was possible a Kimba site could be chosen before consultation was completed in Hawker. “That’s a consequence of the Flinders Ranges Council asking for that information,” he said. Those residing within the Kimba District Council area who are enrolled to vote in federal, state and council elections will be issued a ballot, and out of town ratepayers who enrolled for the proposed ballot in 2018 are still eligible. The Kimba District Council will be contacting out of town ratepayers to make sure eligible voters have enrolled by the deadline at midday, September 13. https://www.eyretribune.com.au/story/6343998/ballot-date-set-as-resources-minister-visits-kimba/?fbclid=IwAR2MYYzVhvWQe5ep7Ul9nyKV1hgoFWkxpehaII3P5vF_tNqOxl |
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1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 