Fed: National search for intermediate radioactive waste site

AAP General News (Australia)
08-11-2000
Fed: National search for intermediate radioactive waste site

ADELAIDE, Aug 11 AAP - All Australian regions would be looked at for suitability to
store the nation's intermediate radioactive waste, the federal government said today.

Federal Resources Minister Nick Minchin said a committee of scientific and technical
experts would be formed to undertake the search for a place to store the waste.

Senator Minchin conceded that the government's search for a location for a national
storage facility would face "emotive" campaigns from anti-nuclear and environmental groups.

"This is not an easy issue for the government or the people of Australia to deal with,"

he said here today.

"It isn't easy to continue to deal with this calmly and rationally, and deal with facts.

"The federal government's position is it can't responsibly rule in or out any part
of the nation from the bottom of Tasmania to the top of the Northern Territory and east
and west.

"We have got a problem as a nation with the waste just sitting around in temporary
storage after 40 years, and we should find the safest site in Australia to store it and
put it in a purpose-built facility."

Senator Minchin said the committee would take two years to determine the safest site
to store Australia's intermediate radioactive waste.

Construction of the facility was likely to take three years once the site had been
identified, he said.

"What we are talking about is an accumulation of intermediate level waste of about
500 cubic metres which I'm advised is about the equivalent of half an Olympic swimming
pool," Senator Minchin said.

"We are not talking about a lot of waste, but the problem at the moment, as with low
level waste, is it's just being stored temporarily where it has arisen at 50 sites across
the country.

"That is not a sensible or responsible way to deal with the nation's radioactive waste.

"It is in the nation's interest to store that waste in a purpose-built central facility."

Senator Minchin said co-locating the storage facility with a low level waste repository
in South Australia's north was an option.

"Co-location can't be ruled out but it is only one option," he said.

Senator Minchin said the government would reduce possible sites for the low level waste
repository in northern SA from five to three within a week.

An ultimate decision on the low level waste site would be made by the end of the year, he said.

AAP sl/hu/br

KEYWORD: NUCLEAR NIGHTLEAD

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