Image from Greenpeace
A new report from Greenpeace Australia Pacific has shown the Coalition’s nuclear plan could produce 14 billion Coke cans’ worth of radioactive waste a year, warning it is a matter of when, not if, a nuclear waste accident could occur in Australia.
Released in the lead-up to the 39th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the report, ‘Toxic threat: The danger of nuclear waste in Australia’ shows that the Coalition has grossly understated the volume of dangerous waste its nuclear plan will produce – 14 billion times more than the ‘single coke can’ for a small modular reactor touted by Peter Dutton.
The report also outlines the unacceptable risk this waste poses to Australian communities, and warns Australia’s long history of nuclear waste management failures point to a very high likelihood of future nuclear disaster.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is a dangerous and expensive disaster waiting to happen. From Chernobyl to Fukushima, the devastation of nuclear disasters is a risk that Australia cannot afford to, and doesn’t need to, take.
“Australians don’t need the equivalent of 14 billion Coke cans of radioactive nuclear waste every year. The Coalition has not offered a credible plan for how it will manage nuclear waste safely, nor how it will fund this multibillion dollar effort.
“Australia’s unenviable track record of mismanaging even low-level nuclear waste, as well as a history of radioactive incidents in the US, UK and EU, reveals how complex it is to manage nuclear waste safely. Multiplying that challenge many times over by building a fleet of nuclear reactors could have devastating consequences for communities and ecosystems.
“International examples show that accidents, natural disasters, and other waste management failures occur with alarming regularity. A nuclear waste accident could lead to mass casualties, long-term health impacts, and the contamination of groundwater, farmland, and ecosystems for millennia. The clean-up bill from an incident would be astronomical, costing billions of dollars.
“Australia doesn’t need nuclear energy, which is just a smokescreen to prolong the use of climate-wrecking coal and gas for decades. We are almost halfway to powering the nation with clean, affordable wind and solar, and should be supercharging efforts to get to 100% renewables backed by storage.
“The Coalition has not asked communities like Collie, Latrobe Valley and the Hunter Valley for their consent to build nuclear reactors and waste dumps in their backyards, but the upcoming Federal Election is a chance for voters to have a say in Australia’s energy future. Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is too dangerous to proceed, and Australians should strongly reject the idea of nuclear energy here.”
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The Coalition is promoting the installation of small modular nuclear reactors at various locations around Australia. Each of these will require fuel replenishment at about 5-7 years and will thus regularly produce nuclear waste material that will have a half life degradation of at least 200,000 years. The question of safe transport of nuclear waste to a safe disposal site (sites?) has not been addressed publicly. The Albanese Government is not in favour of this proposal and criticises the Opposition's position for lack of specific detail, particularly safety.
I find it extraordinary that the Albanese Government is slavishly following the Morrison's Government decision to obtain 8 small modular nuclear powered AUKUS submarines (with all the problems alluded to above) and yet is dead set against the establishment of a nuclear powered generating system for domestic electricity production.
You can't have it both ways - either Australia goes nuclear or Australia remains nuclear free. I prefer the latter option.