"The public needs to know and the traditional owners have a right to be aware." 

CONCERN is mounting that a site near Woomera may become the de facto radioactive waste dump for Australia. 

This follows criticism the Defence Department failed to notify the public it was moving radioactive waste 450km from Edinburgh RAAF to a new waste dump at Woomera over the Christmas break. 

Environmentalists have questioned if the site may become a de facto dump for Australia's waste as the Federal Government continues to stall on a decision for a permanent facility. 

An estimated 80 (44-gallon) drums of waste were moved by a private contractor on January 17. While the Environment Protection Authority and police were notified, the public was not. 

"There should be public awareness of the proposals for the management of radioactive waste, including transport,'' Australian Conservation Foundation anti-nuclear campaigner David Noonan said. ``The public needs to know and the traditional owners have a right to be aware.'' 

The bigger issue, the foundation says, is if the new Koolymilka Waste Storage Facility in the Woomera Prohibited Area becomes a de facto permanent facility. Defence has told The Advertiser it plans to shift 206 drums from a nearby Woomera site to the new facility. Some of the waste is from the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney. 

"There does need to be a permanent facility as Australia has obligations to take back its own waste from overseas,'' a spokeswoman for Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said. 

"We are completing the work started under the Howard government and (an announcement) is under consideration.''