Nation 'best site for N-waste dump'

Monday 7 November 2005
The Australian

AUSTRALIA is the best country to build an international nuclear waste dump, says the former head of Pangea, the British-backed company that tried to build a nuclear facility in outback South Australia.

As pressure grows on Australia to build a desert dump, Charles McCombie, now executive director of the Association for Regional and International Underground Storage, a lobby group campaigning for an international nuclear waste site, plans to visit Sydney next year "and deliberately try to stir the pot".

"You could put a map of Australia on the wall, throw a dart at it and have a 99 per cent chance of finding a site," he said.

Mr McCombie's trip is part of a renewed campaign to re-establish Australia as an international nuclear waste site.

The Northern Territory Government yesterday dropped a proposal to launch a High Court challenge against plans to build a dump in the territory. "It is disappointing that our legal advice has ruled out the option of a challenge against federal government legislation which tramples on the rights of Territorians," Chief Minister Clare Martin said.

Traditional owners from central Australia will head to Canberra today in a bid to stop the proposed low-level nuclear waste dump in their region.

William Tilmouth of the Alcoota Aboriginal Corporation, said: "That land is not vacant. There are over 5000 people living within that area, and the people don't want it poisoned."