Waste dump fallout
Whether Australians like it or not, some time in 2015-16 reprocessed radioactive material produced by the Lucas Heights nuclear research reactor will be returning from France and Scotland. Australia has a legal obligation to accept this reprocessed material as one of the conditions of production of radio pharmaceuticals at the Lucas Heights facility.
Without the Lucas Heights reactor, Australia would not have the capacity to produce life-saving radio pharmaceutical cancer detection and treatment drugs, and without a facility to store the by-products in accordance with the International Atomic Agency’s requirements, the delivery of these cutting-edge cancer treatments would be at risk in Australia.
Each year, Australia produces about 45 cubic metres of radioactive waste from material used at hospitals, industrial sites and laboratories around the country. This waste is now stored at more than 100 sites and it is imperative we secure a safe and central facility to store it.
State and Federal governments have been arguing about where to place the facility for decades. It is an issue which understandably sparks an emotive response, partly because people are unsure if the waste will impact on their health and local environment, and partly because of accused ‘constitutional thuggery’ which allowed the Commonwealth to declare the Northern Territory’s backyard its preferred site for the repository.
It’s important to remind Territorians how this decision came about. In September 1991, then Minister for Primary Industries Simon Crean invited all governments to participate in a coordinated search based upon science for a site for a national radioactive waste storage facility. All the states and territories agreed to this process except for Western Australian, which was developing its own storage arrangements.
In 2001, Minister for Industry, Science and Resources Nick Minchin announced site 52a, or Evetts Field West in the Woomera Prohibited Area, as the preferred site. At this time, a Coalition government was in power federally, while all states were run by Labor governments. By 2004 state opposition to accepting a repository had reached a fever-pitch and South Australian Labor Premier Mike Rann reneged on the earlier national agreement and passed legislation which prevented the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility in the state.
In 2005, Northern Territory Labor politicians Trish Crossin and Warren Snowdon launched a vitriolic and scurrilous campaign against the Coalition, based on a decision to investigate three potential sites in the Territory. Trish Crossin accused me of misleading Territorians, of ‘rolling over’ on Territory rights, and of double dealing. In November 2007, Warren Snowdon claimed the Labor party would provide a clear choice when voters went to the polling booths. “Kevin Rudd will not proceed with John Howard’s plan to make the Territory Australia’s nuclear waste dump,” Mr Snowdon said.
I doubt many Territorians care about events throughout the murky mists of time which led to this decision, because the outcome remains the same. But journalist Paul Toohey is quite right when he describes Labor’s recent change of heart as, “one of the most plainly insincere examples of legislative sleight of hand ever seen in this country”. This was an election commitment, and many people voted for Labor representatives in the Northern Territory based on their promise.
Why then support the bill? The need for a national facility is now urgent, and since the South Australian Government has not changed its position it appears Federal Labor is hell-bent on placing the site in the Territory. What astounds me is that instead of trying to get the best possible outcome for the Territory, Labor representatives are making empty promises to oppose the bill, or simply burying their heads in the sand.
For this reason, I will seek to move amendments when the legislation is introduced into the Senate that deliver proper benefits to Territorians if the facility is built here. Under these amendments, other states and territories would be required to pay to store their waste in the Commonwealth facility. They will also seek to ensure Territory medical services benefit if the Commonwealth proposes to store radioactive material here.
A Senate Inquiry based on the ‘fairness’ of the bill is due to report on April 30. Submissions must be received by next Monday, 15 March and details are available here.
* as appeared in the Northern Territory News, Saturday 13 March 2010.
