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Mr Burns – nuclear nightmare!
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Ironically, this man is NOT Mr Burns
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- Mr Burns – nuclear nightmare!
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- Ironically, this man is NOT Mr Burns
This news is astounding – speak out or get
WASTED ( nuclear that is )
WA ‘ideal’ for nuclear waste
16th March 2009, 6:00 West Australian Newspaper
WA would be ideal for the safe storage of nuclear waste as Australia “inevitably” embraces nuclear power, a prominent geologist has claimed.
John de Laeter, a Curtin University professor who has spent much of his career studying geological formations in WA and abroad, said Australia would eventually need to build nuclear reactors, but that he did not see underground nuclear waste storage as dangerous.
“I know this is unpopular but I believe that in WA there are many, many places where you could construct a natural repository,” Professor de Laeter said on Friday after his induction into the WA Science Hall of Fame. “Sooner or later we are going to have a power reactor in Australia — it’s inevitable.”
But Professor de Laeter argued that WA should only handle Australian waste, because shipping it would be too risky.
“I don’t believe we should take other people’s radioactive waste, even though you could make a lot of money out of it. I’m worried about the transport of radioactive waste on ships.”
His comments contrast with the views of WA’s 2008 Scientist of the Year Jorg Imberger, who has argued that WA can make millions by opening its doors to waste from the world’s burgeoning nuclear power industry.
Premier Colin Barnett has dismissed accepting foreign waste, despite lifting the ban on uranium mining.
The move was widely seen as paving the way for uranium exports. But the need to move from fossil fuels meant nuclear power would be on the agenda, Professor de Laeter said.
“I believe we will have nuclear power in this country in the next 10 to 15 years and I believe the way to look after our own nuclear waste is to put it into a natural geological repository.”
He said Australia should choose disposal sites carefully, to avoid similar problems to the US, which hurriedly selected its Yucca Mountain site despite it being prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Professor de Laeter said his own studies of a “natural nuclear reactor” at Oklo, South Africa, where naturally occurring radioactive rocks had remained sealed off for billions of years, showed that such material could be contained safely.
Such scientific expertise would allow Australia to do “a 100 per cent better job than anyone else” at containing harmful waste, he said.
MICHAEL HOPKIN
Filed under: activism, ANAWA, australia, burrup, colin barnett, conservation, development, email campaign, environment, esperance lead poisoning, global warming, grass roots, greens, greens WA, half-life, health legislation, history, human rights, Jo Vallentine, liberal party western australia, lobbyist, make a difference, mining, networking, nuclear energy, nuclear power, perth, phone in, press, public health, public safety, radiation, rights, social justice, social media, social networking, stand up for the burrup, transport safety, uranium, uranium mining, veranus island disaster, views, web campaign, west australia, western australia, yellowcake, YouTube | Tagged: activism, ANAWA, australia, burrup, colin barnett, conservation, development, email campaign, environment, esperance lead poisoning, global warming, grass roots, greens, greens WA, half-life, health legislation, history, human rights, Jo Vallentine, liberal party western australia, lobbyist, make a difference, mining, networking, nuclear energy, nuclear power, perth, phone in, press, public health, public safety, radiation, rights, social justice, social media, social networking, stand up for the burrup, transport safety, uranium, uranium mining, veranus island disaster, views, web campaign, west australia, western australia, yellowcake, YouTube | 8 Comments »
No Uranium Mining in West Australia 