Doctors wrong on nuke waste, says Gerry
AN INDEPENDENT politician has dismissed claims by doctors that trucking low-level nuclear waste into the NT is dangerous.
Nelson MLA Gerry Wood said the Alice Springs medics - part of the Medical Association Against War - were scaremongering.
He said their objection to transporting waste to the dump at Muckaty, near Tennant Creek, was "not about safety" but part of a campaign that was "against all things nuclear".
RADIOACTIVE waste from hospitals was safely transported regularly - for example, from Brisbane to Esk, 100km away.
NUCLEAR medicine was safely flown on passenger airlines to Darwin at least once a week for use at Royal Darwin Hospital to regularly diagnose liver, lung, bone and kidney problems.
"The deliberate scare campaign is part of an anti-nuclear agenda and opposition to Muckaty," Mr Wood said.
"To say that because there are more road accidents in the Territory therefore a greater risk of an accident with radioactive waste is a statement that just boggles the mind and is an insult to one's intelligence.
"On that reasoning, we should stop transporting petroleum using road trains around the Territory.
"This scare campaign is not about science.
"It is an ideological debate based on total opposition to all things nuclear - and Muckaty is thrown in for good measure - and to win that debate it seems these doctors support the saying, don't let the facts spoil a good story."