An Australian ship carrying 25 metric tons of radioactive waste was greeted by protesters in Sydney’s Port Kembla harbor on Saturday, after the material was reprocessed in France.
While French officials classified the cargo as high-level waste, Australia has reportedly labeled it as intermediate-level material, a discrepancy that has drawn the attention of Greenpeace Australia Pacific. The environmental group says the repatriated material could severely impact the country’s long-term environmental health.
Reuters reported that a small number of protesters, tight security, and a heavy police presence greeted the BBC Shanghai as it docked in Port Kembla. Greenpeace spokeswoman Emma Gibson told the news service that the organization will be monitoring the handling of the material all the way to its interim storage site at the the Lucas Heights nuclear research facility in New South Wales. Phil McCall, spokesman for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, defended the estimated AUS$30 million repatriating project, explaining that Australia produced the nuclear waste and is therefore responsible for dealing with it, Reuters reported.
"Along with the significant benefits from Australia’s nuclear program comes a responsibility to safely manage the by-products, which is what we are doing here," ANTSO Head of Nuclaer Services Hef Griffiths said in an agency press release.
The Australian government is searching for a location to build its first permanent storage site for low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste.
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