The " Nuclear Waste " Question !

It seems ridiculous that for sixty-five years successive Australian Federal governments have been putting the question of nuclear waste disposal - in the "too hard " basket.  Of all the world's countries, we are unique in having an entire continent at our disposal and it is probably populated with the lowest number of people per square mile than anywhere else on earth !

A number of remote places have been nominated over the years and in every case this has resulted in a huge scare campaign by the residents of the state involved.   The Greens and other environmental groups whip up a fanciful scenario which panics otherwise sensible people and threatens a political backlash.   Governments cave in - and decisions are put off until another day.

It would be helpful to understand exactly what is involved.   We are talking about nuclear waste that would occupy the area of two Olympic size swimming pools and this is what is termed "low level nuclear waste ".   It may pose a hazard to those who come into contact with it for many hundreds of years, but properly shielded it is harmless.   At present it is stored in the basement of hospitals and universities in steel drums, and at the only Australian nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney - and has been for years without incident !

Now the government has short listed six possible permanent disposal sites that range from New South Wales to Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.   One of them is Sally's Flat, 260 kilometres west of Sydney.   Expect a furious political campaign from the anti nuclear movement to convince residents of this state that if this proceeds we will all die of ground water contamination or terrorist action that will release the nuclear genie to wreak havoc with our health.

There are a few basic rules that apply to nuclear waste disposal.   It is not a good idea to bury it in the ground because it could leach into ground water, and for the same reason dumping it in the sea is out of the question.   The safest method would be in an above ground warehouse type building - with adequate security from intruders. The waste is contained in steel drums and represents used hospital isotopes and university science laboratory waste, and of course spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor.

Whatever facility is finally chosen, it will require a building with security features and a permanent deployment of guards to ensure it is safe from intruders.   Even this low level waste is of interest to terrorists because it could be used in a "dirty bomb " when mixed with conventional explosives.  In that regard, it is probably less secure at present because it is scattered over more than a hundred sites, none of which have special security in place to prevent it's removal.

There would be a degree of logic at storing this nuclear waste at one of the sites where atomic bombs were detonated in Australia at the dawn of the nuclear age.   In particular, Woomera has a decreasing nuclear area of contamination and is still partially closed to the public.   It has good permanent roads to allow easy transit of materials and is within easy reach of existing Australian defence facilities.

For far too long the nuclear bogey has been exaggerated by nuclear opponents.   We have a small degree of nuclear waste and we will continue to generate more as medical science uses this life saving technology, and we need to bite the bullet and create a storage facility where it can be safely stored into the foreseeable future.