MAPW has written to Resources Minister Matthew Canavan and to the CEO of ARPANSA (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, the nuclear regulatory body) Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson, setting out in detail our concerns in relation to:
- the divisive and misleading way in which a location for a national radioactive waste management facility is being sought; and
- Australia’s expansion of the production of nuclear isotopes for export, when there is no satisfactory solution to the waste problem, and when non-reactor means of production of isotopes gains momentum globally.
The letters state “For far too long nuclear waste management has been thought about well after the waste is produced”. This is effectively dumping the problem on future generations. The first principle of toxic waste management is to reduce production.
MAPW repeats our call for an independent inquiry into the production and management of Australia’s nuclear waste and for Australia to follow international best practice in relation to nuclear waste management.
You can read the letter to Sen Canavan here & the letter to ARPANSA here.