nuclear-news

Protest to stop nuclear waste in its tracks

ABC Local Radio AM –  11 November , 2008 

Reporter: Stephanie Kennedy

Protestors have spent the last four days trying to disrupt the train’s journey from a French reprocessing plant. The nuclear cargo is destined for a waste storage facility.

Police used water cannons, tear gas and batons to break up the protestors; and riot officers carried them away one by one.

Germany has no reprocessing facilities of its own.

So it has to send large quantities of used fuel to France and Britain for treatment. Once it’s been processed Germany has a legal obligation to take back the treated waste. waste………………WOLFGANG KOENIG(translated): In the beginning we underestimated the problem, we thought the disposal of nuclear waste could be managed with relatively simple technological solutions. It was dumped into the sea, it was stored at unsafe locations and only in recent years we recognised how difficult it is to store especially the especially highly radioactive heat-generating waste………….The protestors have vowed to continue their actions until the cargo of radioactive waste reaches the storage facility.

Super storms ‘will wash away coast’

AUSTRALIA’S east coast faces unprecedented erosion within the next decade, heading into a storm period made worse by climate change, research predicts.

The seven-year study suggests sandy coasts, such as those in southeast Queensland, northern New South Wales and parts of Sydney are most at risk of major erosion as storms and high tides hit.

The research, conducted by the Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, examined some of the worst storms to hit the east coast since European settlement……………………….researcher Peter Helman said.

“It’s going to cut the coast further inland and it will be more severe than past stormy periods because of the underlying climate change and subsequent sea rises.”

Green group warns of Alice radioactive freight threat

ABC News 11 Nov 08 Anti-nuclear campaigners have warned the Alice Springs Town Council against a plan to increase the amount of radioactive material freighted on the Adelaide to Darwin railway.

The Olympic Dam mine in South Australia has applied to increase the amount of uranium it transports on the line, as well as radioactive copper concentrate.

Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation says the plan would see hundreds of train-loads of radioactive material pass through Alice Springs every year.

He says the risk of a train accident makes the proposal a direct concern for Alice Springs’ municipal authorities.

“Because you can be sure if a train goes off the rails it won’t be bureaucrats in Canberra, and it won’t be Darwin and it won’t certainly be the board of BHP flying in to clean things up,” he said.

“It will be Alice Springs firies. It will be Alice Springs health and hospital workers. It will be Alice Springs coppers.”

Aussie nuclear reactor operating again

The Age 10 Nov 08 Australia’s only nuclear reactor is back in full operation but continued problems have forced multi-million dollar maintenance years ahead of schedule.

The $430 million Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) reactor has been plagued with problems since it was first powered up in late 2006…………………

The reactor was shut down for 10 months until May of this year because of displacement of fuel plates in the reactor’s core.

© 2008 AAP