Nuclear debate hots up in outback
Sunday, 19 August, 2007
One News TVNZ
The Howard government is looking at hooking up Australia's national grid to nuclear power and has just announced it will export uranium to India as well as China.
Next month marks the 50th anniversary of the last atomic bomb test on Australian soil.
Today debates are raging over nuclear power and uranium mining for export and to produce power.
But the most pressing problem is where to put the waste.
"This is what we told them in the first place - don't touch it. We know how deadly it is," says Aboriginal activist Kevin Buzzacott.
The Northern Territory is home to three possible sites.
These would hold low level waste in trenches 15m deep and fuel rods from Australia's research reactor once they have been reprocessed overseas.
Mount Everard, which is 20 minutes drive from Alice Springs, is one of the places the government may built Australia's first radioactive waste dump.
In four year's time it could be taking spent nuclear fuel rods trucked thousands of kilometres from Sydney and if Australia opts for nuclear power there will be a whole lot more of those.
Cabinet Minister Brendon Nelson says he what is being proposed makes sense and is in the national interest.
And while the Labour opposition says no to nuclear power Prime Minister John Howard backs a report that recommends building up to 25 reactors by 2050.
Australia has nearly 40% of the world's accessible uranium and it already exports to China.
Now sales to India look likely as well.
"The boomerang was developed in Australia and it's a very apt metaphor for where we are now because what goes out comes back," says Mike Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation.
He says that if Australia becomes the world's largest uranium provider, with a pro-nuclear government, it will be overriding the interest of the community.
He also says it will be using "bad laws to pass and promote bad policy", which will bring the "boomerang will back in the form of high-level radioactive waste".
Australia's government says it won't accept waste from other countries but it is talking with the US about a "global nuclear energy partnership".
Some fear that will see Australia providing the raw materials and taking the waste. They want to follow New Zealand's example set by the nuclear ship visits policy.
"That was gusty; that was powerful; that showed leadership. It showed respect and responsibility. It was punching above New Zealand's weight and to its great credit," says Sweeney.
Whether to import that policy or step up uranium exports and plan for a waste dump will be decided by whichever side wins the federal elections in Australia this year.