Wednesday, 22 November, 2006

ABC NT Local News

Environmentalists fear the Northern Territory could end up hosting a high level radioactive waste repository if a nuclear energy industry is established in Australia.

A Government-commissioned review has found that with the appropriate tax and investment structures nuclear energy could be economically viable in 15 years.

Last year, the Federal Government announced that one of three sites in the Territory would host a low to intermediate level nuclear waste repository.

Tim Collins from the Arid Lands Environment Centre says that would likely be upgraded if nuclear energy became a reality.

"Any talk of putting it in central Australia isn't based on scientific evidence, it's based on a principle of let's just put it out there because it's in the middle of nowhere and no-one lives out there, which is just basically untrue," he said.