New York Times inadequate coverage of South Australia’s problem about nuclear waste dumping

This New York Times author gives a fair coverage to the Kimba radioactive waste dump issue. But it’s misleading in 3 important ways, as if the author completely buys the nuclear lobby’s propaganda.:

States that “The country has no nuclear power plants.” But fails to mention the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor [which is the source of the really important radioactive trash for Kimba]
Fails to mention the fact that South Australia has a clear law prohibiting establishment of any nuclear waste facility
Seems unaware of the huge distances (2000 km) involved, which would mean that the vast majority of medical wastes would no longer be radioactive, in transport from the main points of production and use.

A Farming Town Divided: Do We Want a Nuclear Site that Brings Jobs?, NYT, By JACQUELINE WILLIAMS, MARCH 7, 2018 “……… Now, as the federal government considers whether to build the site on one of these two farms in Kimba, this community of about 650 people finds itself divided and angry. The prospect of jobs and subsidies that the site would bring has split locals between those who want to preserve rural Australia’s way of life and those who say the glory days of farming are over…..

Despite the distances, locals say Kimba always had a strong sense of community, at least until the nuclear site was proposed. Some said the allure of millions of dollars’ worth of grants and subsidies that the government was offering the host community had blinded people to the risks.

“If it wasn’t for the money that the government’s offering, we wouldn’t be where we are,” Austin Eatts, 89, said on the large wheat farm just out of town where he has lived all his life.

Mr. Eatts, from one of the town’s original families, is a neighboring landowner to Michelle and Brett Rayner, who have nominated their farm as a potential site for the nuclear dump.

“I share a pipeline with them; I don’t want to share a nuclear waste dump with them,” Mr. Eatts said. Looking at a pile of documents about the proposed facility he had collected over the past year or so, he said he worried about the effect of the radioactive waste on the town’s future generations. …..

as the federal government narrows in on this tiny community as one of two potential host communities, fear and outrage about the potential effect of it on Kimba’s farming land has grown. ……

The farms being considered for the proposed site are 10 to 15 miles outside town. Each year, the amount of low-level waste generated in Australia is smaller than one shipping container, according to government figures, along with intermediate-level radioactive waste the size of a Dumpster. The country has no nuclear power plants.

The site is expected to bring more than a dozen jobs, leading supporters to call it a much needed alternative to agriculture for the local economy.

Those against the facility, like Peter Woolford, a third-generation Kimba farmer, and part of the No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or South Australia group, say it will hurt the prices of crops and farmland. They also worry that Kimba will forever be known as the nuclear dump town. ……

To persuade residents to accept the site, the government has also flown some on all-expenses paid trips to Sydney to view a nearby nuclear laboratory.

The federal government has said that it will not choose any site without broad community support. In early 2016, a vote showed that Kimba was almost split down the middle. Later that year, the number in favor had increased slightly.

To end the sometimes bitter rift in the community, some politicians are urging the government to find another site.

“This has been a needless point of division in the community for more than 18 months now,” Nick Xenophon, a former senator who used to represent the state of South Australia, said in a statement. “It’s time for that to stop.”…..https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/world/australia/kimba-nuclear-waste.html

March 9, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, wastes

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