RESIDENTS had until Friday to comment on ANSTO's plan to transport intermediate level radioactive waste from France to Lucas Heights.
The shipment of radioactive waste is expected to arrive in NSW from the French port of Cherbourg, between September 2015 and March 2016, and will be transported by road to ANSTO at Lucas Heights.
Oyster Bay resident Kate McKenzie is angered by what she called a lack of community consultation.
"I don't think we've necessarily heard what safeguards are going to be brought in or why it is coming in," she said. "I am just an ordinary citizen — [I just want to know] why is this being done and how it is being done?
"I am concerned for my grandchildren, I don't want anything that can jeopardise their health.
"It is not that we distrust ANSTO, I believe they do a great job. It is going to be transported along suburban streets. We should make sure there's no chance of any incidents along the way. Anything can happen."
An ANSTO spokesman said there was plenty of community awareness around the shipment, including ads in the Leader placed by ANSTO and the independent nuclear regulator, an information session held by the independent regulator, a public submissions process on the waste building called for and reviewed by the independent regulator, and a letterbox drop to all Sutherland Shire residents.
The spokesman said the movement had received widespread media coverage, including four articles in the Leader and stories in the Sun Herald and Sydney Morning Herald.
"This waste is a by-product of 50 years of nuclear research, including production of millions of doses of Australian nuclear medicine and cutting-edge research to assist our environment and industry," he said.
"Along with the significant benefits to Australia's health system and its economy comes a responsibility to safely deal with the by-products, which is exactly what ANSTO will do.
"ANSTO, the council and the community are all on the same page in agreeing that this is not the right location for the waste to be kept on a permanent basis.
"However, ANSTO is the home of Australian nuclear science, so has the expertise to safely store this material until the federal government completes the process of siting a national waste facility."
NOT ENOUGH TIME
Councils interested in housing Australia’s radioactive waste dump have complained the Abbott government’s tender period is too short for them to make a decision, inclusive with their communities, on the divisive issue.
The government has given landowners and communities two months to nominate the best location for the national waste centre, which will permanently house intermediate-level nuclear waste produced at the Lucas Heights reactors.
The tender comes after the federal government failed to convince a community near Muckaty in the Northern Territory last year to house the centre on their land. The failure to find a suitable location over the past two decades means intermediate-level radioactive waste will need to be temporarily housed at Lucas Heights within a year.
Four shipments of Australian radioactive waste were sent to France for reprocessing between 1999 and 2004.
The first shipment will be returned by sea to Australia (see story left).— Peter Kerr
What do you think of the plan to transport French nuclear waste to Sutherland Shire?
