Government plans to dump nuclear waste in SA
By Jim Green
The federal government's plan to establish a nuclear dump in South Australia has reached a crucial juncture. The government plans to begin test drilling of 18 sites in the coming weeks and to nominate a specific site by the middle of the year.
Successive governments have been attempting to establish a national dump for almost 20 years. In February 1998, the government announced that the 67,000 sq km Billa Kalina region of SA was the preferred site. It includes the towns of Roxby Downs, Andamooka and Woomera.
The dump will consist of unlined trenches. In addition, an "interim" storage shed for long-lived intermediate level waste will be located next to the dump.
While the stated criteria are factors such as low rainfall and geological stability, the main game has been to find a way around the fundamental problem that a nuclear waste dump is a hard sell. The strategy has been to find a compliant state government and then use a crash-through-or-crash approach to force a dump on a community.
One hurdle has been overcome: the Liberal government in SA now supports the proposal, reversing its previous strong opposition.
Several years ago, SA Premier Dean Brown wrote to Prime Minister Paul Keating protesting against the proposed listing of Lake Eyre as a World Heritage site. Brown's letter, which was leaked to the press, suggested that the SA government would be more favourably disposed towards hosting a nuclear dump if the World Heritage proposal was dropped. It appears a deal was struck.
Aboriginal opposition
There are four Aboriginal groups with native title claims pending in the Billa Kalina region — the Antankirinja, Kokatha, Bangarla and Kuyani. The Arabunna and Nukunu also have an interest in the land.
According to Stewart Motha from the native title section of the Adelaide-based Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM), Aboriginal groups in the region have "enormous concerns" about the dump.
In 1953, Rebecca Bear-Wingfield's mother was exposed to radiation from a British atomic test at Emu Junction. Bear-Wingfield now represents the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta women's group, which includes women from several Aboriginal groups in the Billa Kalina region. Sixteen women from the group recently visited Melbourne for the annual Indigenous Solidarity Gathering and to build the campaign against the nuclear dump.
Bear-Wingfield says, "Our people have been directly affected by nuclear weapons testing, missile testing and uranium mining. The commonwealth government now intends to dump nuclear waste on our country. This is an abuse of human rights which we will stop.
"Governments can't keep dumping their poisons on us. We will make this a national and international issue."
The federal government has attempted several manoeuvres to override Aboriginal opposition. One ploy was to negotiate with some Aboriginal groups but not others. Widespread opposition from Aboriginal groups nullified that manoeuvre.
Late last year, the government told ALRM that sufficient consultation had taken place and that test drilling would proceed in mid-January. That was also unsuccessful; the government had not followed due process and was forced to back down.
Aboriginal groups do not have the legal power to veto test drilling or the establishment of a dump. They are between "a rock and a hard place", according to Stewart Motha:
"If Aboriginal groups do get involved in clearances [for test drilling] they face the possibility that the government will point to that involvement as an indication of consent. If they refuse to participate, who will protect Aboriginal heritage, dreaming and sacred sites?"
Consequently, ALRM has been involved in finalising work area clearances, while making it clear that this does not indicate support for a dump.
According to Parry Agius, manager of the ALRM's native title unit, "The nuclear waste repository issue highlights the inadequacy of native title rights as they are currently constituted under the Native Title Act and is a showcase for the consequences of the 10-point plan. While native title purports to recognise Aboriginal people's particular relationship to the land, and the negotiations we are currently undertaking are aimed at protecting Aboriginal heritage, the commonwealth government may extinguish these rights by compulsory acquisition."
Some of the 18 sites are on commonwealth land, including prohibited military zones at Nurrungar and Woomera. There are problems with both areas, including rumours of opposition from military personnel based there.
However, both sites must be very attractive to the government given that there would be no need to acquire land compulsorily. Prohibited military zones may be immune from native title claims, although that could be subject to legal challenge.
Whether the chosen site is commonwealth land, a pastoral lease or freehold land is of significance to the government, but such classifications have little meaning for traditional owners and native title claimants.
Kevin Buzzacott from the Arabunna people notes, "Our land was taken by massacre and displacement. No treaties were ever signed. We have never ceded our sovereignty ... Under international law we still own the land and will always oppose the radioactive waste dump."
ANSTO's role
The government discusses Australia's radioactive waste inventory in terms of volume, not radioactivity. In terms of volume, the main stockpile of waste is 10,000 drums of lightly contaminated soil currently stored at Woomera.
In terms of radioactivity, the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney, operated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), is responsible for an overwhelming majority of the waste to be dumped at Billa Kalina — well over 90% by some estimates.
A spokesperson from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) scoffed at the suggestion that ANSTO is responsible for such a large percentage of the radioactive inventory, but then admitted that the department does not know what the figures are and is not even responsible for the inventory, despite being responsible for establishing the dump.
There is one simple agenda behind the dump: it is a clearing exercise for ANSTO, designed to reduce opposition to a new reactor at Lucas Heights.
ANSTO plans to move most or all of its nuclear waste to the remote dump, or to the USA and France in the case of spent fuel rods from the reactor. If reprocessing in France goes ahead, the residual waste will be returned for "interim" storage at Billa Kalina. The reprocessing contracts will be based on an arrangement in which France returns to Australia the same amount of radioactivity as in the original shipment.
ANSTO has already sent two shipments of spent fuel to Scotland for reprocessing, and it is expected that the residual waste will eventually be returned to Australia.
If a new reactor is built at Lucas Heights, there is no guarantee that overseas reprocessing will be an option over its lifetime. The government and ANSTO have acknowledged that a fall-back option is to send spent fuel directly to the Billa Kalina dump for "interim" storage.
Another option is to reprocess spent fuel in Australia. The executive director of ANSTO has said that Lucas Heights would be a "reasonable" location for a nuclear reprocessing plant, but public opposition would probably preclude that option. A reprocessing plant in the Billa Kalina region is a more likely bet.
To head off the thin-end-of-the-wedge argument, the federal government says, "A limit on total radionuclide activity for the proposed disposal facility in Billa Kalina will be established".
DISR suggested I contact the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) to find out what the limit will be. ARPANSA suggested I contact DISR.
If a limit is established, a future government will have two options when it is reached: increase the limit and expand the dump, or build a new dump.
ANSTO has played a significant role both as Australia's biggest producer of radioactive waste (excluding uranium mines) and as a technical adviser to the government on radioactive waste management. There is a glaring conflict of interest in ANSTO's dual roles of producer and adviser.
International interest
A longer term possibility is that a national nuclear dump could become an international one. Last year Jim Voss, head of the US-based company Pangea Resources, visited Australia, ostensibly to promote the idea that the Billa Kalina dump should be privately operated. Then in December, environment groups obtained a promotional video produced by Pangea Resources in which Australia is nominated as the "world's best" site for an international nuclear dump.
The government has gone quiet on the possibility of private operation. No doubt the plan is to overcome the immediate obstacles to a national dump, and then to reassess the issue of public or private operation and the longer term issue of whether Australia will host an international dump.
There is widespread opposition to the Billa Kalina nuclear dump. A car cavalcade from Lucas Heights to Billa Kalina is planned for April to highlight the links between the plan for a new reactor and the waste dump.
The Arabunna people are beginning an ongoing protest and blockade near Roxby Downs in March. This will be a focus for opposition to the Roxby Downs uranium mine and the Billa Kalina dump.
The campaign against the Lucas Heights reactor is crucial. The Billa Kalina dump plan could well be scrapped if the plan to build a new reactor is defeated. Likewise, if the Billa Kalina dump proposal is defeated, then it becomes much more difficult for ANSTO and the government to build a new reactor in Sydney.