Shire of Leonora deputy president says no thanks to foreign nuclear waste pitch

The Leonora community has little interest in becoming a dumping ground for the world’s nuclear waste despite claims from industry of a multi-billion dollar economic windfall.

Leonora was identified as a prime candidate in WA for a dumping site similar to a facility being built in Finland, where a 2km-deep tunnel would be drilled to store bentonite clay-sealed copper cylinders full of radioactive waste.

Speaking on Channel 7’s Flashpoint on Monday night, Shire of Leonora deputy president Ross Norrie said he didn’t feel there was any amount of money that could convince residents to get onboard plans for a global nuclear waste dump.

“They are offering big bucks to store it, but I think Finland and Norway are way more advanced with their storage projects,” he said.

“The feeling was, no, we are not going to accept nuclear waste from offshore and currently the policy is we don’t any way.”

Leonora has been touted as a local nuclear waste storage site due to the proposed Azark Project at Clover Downs Station 15km out of town.

Mr Norrie said the Shire was only interested in storing waste produced locally, such as at the proposed Yeelirrie uranium mine, and from Lucas Heights in NSW.

“The storage facility we are talking about is one of the safest going,” he said.

“We need to be around the table because we do have Australia’s largest deposit of uranium.”

Australian Nuclear Association president Robert Parker said safety would not be a concern if a global waste storage was built in the Goldfields.

The reason the industry asks for remote high isolation sites . . . is they know the engineered containment will leak

“When they drill down into the rock and they go down 500m they check that water hasn’t moved for millions of years,” he said.

“If that water has not moved, and they can verify it hasn’t, then that (nuclear waste) is going down there and it is not coming back ever.

“It is a certain, sure, engineered solution to the migration of these old bits of waste through the environment.”

Former Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said storing the world’s nuclear waste near Leonora would be disastrous.

“The reason the industry asks for remote high isolation sites ... is they know the engineered containment will leak,” he said.

“How will you explain that to Aboriginal people or crew who live in these remote mining towns or remote communities that the reason you are trying to put it as far from centres of population as possible is that you know the stuff is going to leak.”

Reform WA president Daniel Nikolic said economic benefits of nuclear waste storage were big.