Argentine firm wins Australian reactor tender

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Argentine firm wins Australian reactor tender

CANBERRA, June 6 (Reuters) - An Argentine company has won a tender 
for a nuclear reactor in Sydney, the Australian Federal government 
said on Tuesday IN a move seen as cementing Australia-South America 
relations. 

But the announcement was quickly condemned by opposition parties and 
the environmental group Greenpeace Australia. 

The company, INVAP, will join Australian companies John Holland 
Construction and Engineering and Evans Deakin Industries Ltd to build 
the reactor in Lucas Heights, southwestern Sydney. 

``INVAP's bid was within the budget for the reactor facility and the 
final contract will not exceed A$278.5 million (in 1999 dollars),'' 
Nick Minchin, the minister for industry, science and resources, said 
in a statement. 

``The bid has met the stringent international guidelines on nuclear 
safety,'' he said. 

The reactor is scheduled to be commissioned in 2005. 

An existing reactor commissioned in 1958 continues to be safe, but is 
now technologically obsolete, the minister said. 

``A replacement reactor is required so Australia can continue to 
benefit from radioactivity in the areas of medicine, environment, 
industry, mining, agriculture, science and the national interest,'' 
Minchin said. 

Minchin said INVAP has a solid track record constructing research 
reactors, with five constructed around the world over the past two 
decades. 

It was chosen as prefered tenderer as its bid offered high 
performance for both neutron beam and irradiation facilities, as well 
as the best building layout. 

SUPPORTS AUSTRALIA/S.AMERICAN TRADE 

A former Australian trade minister, Tim Fischer, welcomed the 
announcement. 

``This breakthrough will greatly help the coalition government's 
strategy to expand linkages between Australia and South America,'' 
Fischer said. 

``It will help fortify the existing trade investment and tourism 
efforts which I and my colleagues have pursued strongly over the last 
four years,'' Fischer said. 

But the opposition Labor Party raised concerns over the location of 
the reactor, saying the decision was inappropriate without a 
comprehensive public review of all options including a long-term 
solution to the management of nuclear waste. 

Greens Senator Bob Brown said the decision faces a public backlash 
and that public sympathy will be with suburban residents living near 
the reactor site. 

``It is dangerously absurd to build a reactor in suburbia,'' Brown 
said. 

Greenspeace was more concerned over the choice of tenderer, because 
of what it said was INVAP's past record of nuclear cooperation with 
what it termed ``rogue'' nations. 

``This is a company which has supplied nuclear technology to Iran, 
Algeria and Libya. This contract provides credibility to a company 
whose aim is to spread the risk of nuclear technology to smaller, 
less experienced countries,'' said Greenpeace nuclear campaigner 
Stephen Campbell.

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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