Alex Milne, Melbourne
On August 16, a public forum held in the Melbourne Town Hall heard speakers address a variety of nuclear-related issues, including the new nuclear reactor being constructed at Lucas Heights in suburban Sydney and the successful campaign by Iranti Wanti against the proposed nuclear waste dump in South Australia.
Democrats Senator Lyn Allison argued that it is not safe to store large amounts of nuclear waste in one location. She also spoke against the proposed US missile defence system, of which Australia may become a partner. According to Allison, these missiles must be nuclear-armed in order to function as planned.
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle talked about the successful campaigns to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine and to stop the proposed nuclear waste dump near Woomera, on land compulsorily acquired by the federal government. This latter victory has been greeted with cautious optimism. Nettle said these campaigns were successful because they drew support from a wide range of communities, especially Aboriginal communities.
Dave Sweeny from Friends of the Earth and the Australian Conservation Foundation talked about his experiences on an activist road trip with mock radioactive waste. The activists travelled from the Lucas Heights reactor to the proposed dump-site to raise awareness in local communities of the dangers of transporting radioactive waste.
The official justification for the Lucas Heights reactor is to produce medicinal radio-isotopes. Dr Tilman Russ from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War described this as "bullshit, a furphy, nonsense. One small reactor in Canada provides 60% of the world's needs [for medical radio-isotopes]. Cyclotrons produce shorter-lived, safer alternatives. We can do good medicine without dangerous radioactive waste."
Eva Vincet, from the Irati Wanti campaign with the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta women's group, also spoke. Irati wanti means "The poison, leave it" in the Kungka Tjuta language. Some of the women from Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta remember the "black mist" that rolled in from the 1953-57 British nuclear bomb tests at Maralinga, causing sickness, blindness and death. Vincet spoke of the need for Aborigines and "whitefella activists" to work together and learn from each other.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, August 25, 2004.
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