Northern Territory Nuclear Waste Dump Closer

Senator Trish Crossin says the NT radioactive waste dump has taken a step closer but you would be lucky to know from official sources.

"I've been waiting for the federal government's announcement of the successful tenderer to review the three proposed radioactive dump sites in the NT.

"It is a major step in the process and I expected at least a press release from Julie Bishop the Minister for Education Science and Technology or her department (DEST).

"Instead last Monday DEST placed a one sentence announcement on an obscure part of the DEST website www.radioactivewaste.gov.au” (http://www.radioactivewaste.gov.au/framework/what's_new.htm )

It simply says:

- 27 March 2006
- Parsons Brinckerhoff has been engaged to conduct site characterisation studies for the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Facility.

"It is hard to get any more low key that – with no extra detail given or public notification that it was placed on the site” Senator Crossin said.

"It follows another stage of the dump process done in virtual secrecy when the nuclear regulator ARPANSA released guidelines for radioactive stores for public comment just days before Christmas. Thankfully ARPANSA agreed to my request to extend the period for public submissions given the lack of publicity.

"The company Parsons Brinckerhoff is a huge world-wide civil engineering concern with many projects in Australia. In 2003 its former subsidiary PPK did the Environmental Impact Statement for the Federal Government's proposed dump in South Australia.

"Parsons Brinckerhoff will basically examine the two proposed sites in Central Australia and the one near Katherine and recommend to the government which is best suited and cheapest to develop as the radioactive dump.

"The recommendation of the site was due late this year according to the government's timeline for completion of the dump by 2011” Senator Crossin said.

2006-03-30