ANSTO welcomes a diversity of opinions on its operations and is willing to comment on these opinions according to Acting Executive Director, Dr George Collins, referring to a meeting to be held in Dubbo tonight regarding the transportation and storage of low level radioactive waste.
The meeting being hosted by Friends of the Earth (unfortunately ANSTO was not invited) is to introduce Dubbo citizens to visiting German farmers who are opposed to the transportation of radioactive waste.
"Even though we respect everyone's right to express their opinion, we are very concerned the public know the facts and understand the issues regarding the generation, storage and transportation of low level radioactive waste in Australia," said Dr Collins.
“Low level radioactive waste is just that: it is waste material that emits low levels of radiation,” Dr Collins continued. “For example, if you stood two metres away from a truck full of low level waste for one hour without moving, you would receive less radiation than you would if you flew to Los Angeles and back.
“The recent NSW Government inquiry into low level waste also supported ANSTO’s claims that the transport of low level radioactive waste can be safely managed.”
Dr Collins is an advocate of having a single repository for low level radioactive waste.
“Having a central repository reflects international best practice,” he said. “It is important that waste is contained and stored in a central area so it can be monitored by experts instead of being dotted around the country in places such as hospitals, universities and industrial plants.
“ANSTO’s monitoring of radioactive material is independently assessed on a regular basis and our staff are thoroughly trained to handle radioactive materials,” continued Dr Collins.
“In fact, the NSW Government inquiry made mention of the thoroughness of our monitoring and record keeping systems of the radioactive waste located on our site.
“Although no one can say there is ‘no risk’ involved in doing anything in life, the storage and transport of low level waste has extremely low risk in terms of human health or environmental damage.”