POTENTIAL hosts for the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility have made a trip to the home of nuclear science, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Kimba landowners Brett and Michelle Rayner, who volunteered part of their property for consultation on the national facility, toured ANSTO’s Lucas Heights site recently.
They met with Chief Nuclear Officer Hef Griffiths and Sutherland Shire mayor Carmelo Pesce to view how the radioactive waste is processed and stored.
Kimba is a rural service town on the Eyre Highway at the top of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
Mr Rayner said he was originally against the nuclear waste site proposal until he attended a community meeting.
“I got the information and could see that there are no safety risks and there is opportunity for our community," he said.
"Based on that, I volunteered my land, but coming to ANSTO and seeing this operation in person has really confirmed for me that this waste can and is being safely managed."
Mrs Rayner said the trip showed the reality of a nuclear waste storage facility.
"What's done at ANSTO is just mind-blowing, and what stood out is the wide variety of research that goes on here, that people maybe don't realise the huge contribution nuclear science makes," she said.
"I understand even more how safe the waste is, that if it's stored the right way, you can not only be standing right next to it, but you can even be working with it in nothing more than normal clothes."
Cr Pesce told the Rayners that ANTSO was “a wonderful neighbour and partner”.
“ANSTO is extremely open and transparent about its work, part of which is essential medicine to help in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Australia and worldwide,” Cr Pesce said.
“ANSTO is significant to our local community, not only through the important work it does, but also through playing an active role in our community activities such as council’s AUSFEST celebrations.
“It is also the second biggest employer in the Sutherland Shire.”
