Lucas Heights - HIFAR

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

> Jim Hardeman[SMTP:Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us] wrote on
> Thursday March 09, 2000 9:48 AM
> 
> The following editorial letter appeared in the March 9, 2000 Sydney
> Morning Herald. The URL for the article is
> http://www.smh.com.au/news/0003/09/text/features4.html 
> 
> =======
> Nuclear risks: myths and reality 
> Date: 09/03/2000
> 
<snip>
> Those activists who wish to induce fear into an Australian community can
> ignore or manipulate these physical laws and mathematical probabilities
> and use pseudo-science to create an environment of terror and a distrust
> of all legitimate authority ("Why Sydney should be worried about Lucas
> Heights", Herald, March 2.)
<snip>
> If you do not want a research reactor at Lucas Heights you write about
> meltdowns, radiation leakage, nuclear waste, unacceptable risk and
> cover-up. You make use of the emotive impact behind these words, throw in
> as much innuendo and as many "what ifs" as possible, abandon the laws of
> physics, radiation biology and mathematical probability and the resulting
> climate of fear enables you to achieve your socio-political objectives.
> 
> Residents of Sutherland Shire are frequently assailed with pseudo-science
> concerning the supposed "danger" inherent in operating Sydney's High Flux
> Australian Reactor (HIFAR), the only research reactor in the country, and
> the even "greater danger" of replacing it with a new facility.
<snip>
<><><><><><><><><><><>

FYI, here's more from those activists who wish to induce fear into an
Australian community :


Mar 24/00 - Greenpeace slams Australian minister's "hypocrisy" on nuclear. 
Agence France Presse
SYDNEY, Australia -- Environmental group Greenpeace Australia on Friday
attacked industry and resources minister Nick Minchin for what it described
as his "hypocritical mission to Europe to promote nuclear trade." 
Minchin told a business lunch in Paris on Thursday that Australia would
continue shipments of nuclear waste to France for reprocessing despite
protests in both countries. 
Under the terms of the waste contract, some 1,300 spent fuel rods from
Australia's sole reactor at Lucas Heights are to be reprocessed in France
before being returned to Australia. 
The first shipment of rods arrived in France in January and a further three
shipments are due over the next three years. 
Greenpeace Australia nuclear campaigner Stephen Campbell described Minchin's
attitude as "hypocritical and thoughtless." 
He said the Australian government is sending nuclear waste to France to
undergo a process that it has banned in Australia. 
"The minister wants French citizens to deal with our dirty washing," he
said. "The La Hague plant, where our waste is reprocessed, is one of the
most contaminating nuclear facilities on the planet." 
Campbell said that Australia should be taking responsibility and looking to
halt production of waste on Australian soil, rather than relying on France
to take the waste. 
"But the Howard government is hell bent on building a new reactor that we do
not need," he added. 
Greenpeace said that the new reactor planned for Lucas Heights near Sydney,
costing around 320 million dollars (195 million US), will lock Australia
into a further 40 years of high-level waste production. 
The existing nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights has been in operation since
1960 and is due to be decommissioned in 2005.

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html