Monday, 18 December, 2006

The Australian

SYDNEY residents cannot not be told when and where cargoes of spent nuclear fuel rods will be transported through their suburbs because of security concerns, the nuclear watchdog says.

Environmental group Greenpeace says the practice is a terrorist target.

Containers carrying spent nuclear fuel rods were taken under police escort from the Lucas Heights nuclear facility in Sydney's south to a ship at Port Botany, for reprocessing in the US.

Helicopters, firefighters and police protected the convoy that transported the containers through Sydney streets.

Greenpeace activists watched the cargo being taken to a ship early today.

"In an age of terrorism and fears about nuclear proliferation, these nuclear waste shipments are a magnet for terrorist activity," Greenpeace spokesman Stephen Campbell said.

"Spent fuel rods can be combined with explosives to make dirty nuclear bombs."

Police said a Greenpeace boat attempted to stop the material being loaded but that was denied by the group.

A spokesman for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) said local councils were told about nuclear waste shipments but the secret routes were determined by police.

"Local councils are sent a letter a few weeks before the shipment takes place and media are notified as well, but specific residents aren't informed," the spokesman said.

"We can't inform people of the timing or the route of the shipment for security reasons, in case somebody tries to make mischief and in fact ends up causing more harm to local residents than if they weren't informed."

ANSTO chief of operations Dr Ron Cameron said he wanted to assure residents last night's transfer of waste had been carried out safely.

"Residents' safety was of paramount concern," Dr Cameron said on ABC radio.

"These containers are very robust and very well engineered ... We do of course have contingency arrangements whereby if one truck broke down we have two spare trucks and the capability of transferring the loads onto those."

He said there had been more than 7000 similar shipments internationally since 1971.