Thursday 27 April 2006
78.3 ABC Alice Springs
Reporter: Katya Quigley

It's often been said in the past six months that no-one wants a nuclear waste dump in their own backyard. But it has to go somewhere doesn't it. Could it be that some Territorians would actually welcome such a repository and maybe even benefit from it? Senator Nigel Scullion told us last week that he would bet everyone a beer that the federal government's proposed nuclear dump would not be built on any of the three sites that the government is currently investigating. So where would it go? Senator Scullion says somewhere on the Aboriginal land administered by the Northern Land Council, in fact this is how our conversation went last week:

REPTR Isn't it going to be more difficult to find a site, you talked about Katherine and the floods, that is safe in the wet season in the top end than it is in Central Australia?
SCULLION You've got to remember that the Northern Land Council lands come well south of Tennant Creek. It's been a long time since we had a real problem with flooding in Tennant Creek. But that's really up to the Northern Land Council as I said. We know, we've already established from a scientific basis that there are plenty of areas within the Northern Land Council jurisdiction, and they've indicated that, and we're proceeding accordingly.

Since that conversation that I had with Senator Scullion last week, there've been persistent reports, so far unconfirmed by the national land council, that a group of traditional owners on Aboriginal land somewhere between Tennant Creek and Elliott are interested in having the dump on their land. And that they'll soon be inspecting the nuclear reactor site at Lucas Heights in Sydney to get a better understanding of the nuclear cycle.

I've been joined by the Mayor of Tennant Creek, Rod Swanson.
REPTR Good morning Mayor.
SWANSON Good morning Katya, how are you?

REPTR Very well thank you. Now I gather you haven't been informed of the possibility of a dump in the Barkly, how do you think you'd feel about such a prospect?
SWANSON Oh look I haven't heard anything other than what I heard this morning through your radio program, cause I was away during Nigel Scullion's interview with you, so I didn't hear that. And I'm very surprised that there's been no communication to the Tennant Creek Town Council or any of the residents in Tennant Creek for that matter, I mean that's most disappointing.

REPTR So Senator Scullion's comments come as a bit of a surprise.
SWANSON Most certainly do. I must correct him on one issue too, that the Northern Land Council boundaries do not go south of Tennant Creek, they're north of Tennant Creek.

REPTR Now do you think that the people of the Barkly and the Tennant need to be consulted on this one?
SWANSON Well of course they do, anything that impacts on our local area here, and I'm quite surprised actually that I'm not too sure whether you've spoken to the traditional owners up at that area, but they have very close family ties in Tennant Creek and in fact some of them are residents in Tennant Creek. So I find that strange that these comments are being made and we know nothing about it.

REPTR Mayor Swanson, the Stuart Highway runs right through Tennant Creek, how would you feel about the prospect of trucks going through your neck of the woods?
SWANSON Look I'm open minded on the issue of whether the nuclear waste should be located in any area, because somebody would need to prove to me that it's absolutely safe. And I'm not quite sure that they've done that, I'd certainly need more information on it. But I'm not arguing the case either for or against it at this stage until I have further information on it. And that I think is the real issue. The real issue is that they haven't consulted and they certainly haven't given the information to convince people either way.

REPTR How do you feel generally with the whole process that we've been seeing over the nuclear waste dump here in the Territory?
SWANSON Oh look it's ridiculous, we were supportive of Alice Springs and Katherine in their motions to fight the commonwealth government on this, because certainly it was done wrongly, and you wouldn't expect that anyone's going to make decisions in your area without consulting with your people.

REPTR Appreciate your time this morning Mayor.
SWANSON Okay then, thank you Katya.

REPTR Well if there is to be a nuclear waste dump in the Barkly, rain may not be a problem, but how stable is the area geologically speaking. Professor Brian Kennett is a geologist from the Australian National University and he specialises in seismology and geomagnetism and has worked in the Barkly Region. Good morning professor.
KENNETT Good morning.

REPTR Tennant Creek is famous for its 1987 earthquake, how safe is the region geologically speaking?
KENNETT Well the whole region of north central Australia is under compression from north to south as the result of Australia moving northwards at 6cm a year. There's evidence at Barrow Creek of an earthquake in the last few thousand years as well as the Tennant Creek earthquakes. Prior to 1985, you would have said that Tennant Creek had no indication of any likely earthquake activity, and the same could be said at the area to the north between Tennant Creek and Elliott today. So I think the answer is pretty stable, but if anything was to be built, it would be prudent to design it so it can withstand something like the Tennant Creek earthquakes.

REPTR Right, so it would be possible to build a dump that would actually be able to withstand an earthquake in that area -
KENNETT The town of Tennant Creek came through the 87 earthquakes with surprisingly little damage from an earthquake 25km's away.

REPTR Professor thank you for your time this morning.